Latest news with #RalfGeithe
Wales Online
11-07-2025
- General
- Wales Online
Welsh households urged to take washing up liquid into the shower
Welsh households urged to take washing up liquid into the shower You don't need to splash out on expensive cleaning products to get your shower in top condition - simply reach for something you already own Your shower will look sparkling clean if you use one household essential to clean it (Image: Iurii Garmash via Getty Images ) It's a domestic chore that often gets postponed for weeks, or even months – until the moment you step into the shower and it dawns on you: this really needs a thorough clean. While the aisles of supermarkets and homeware shops are brimming with costly cleaning products promising to make your bathroom gleam, from shower shine sprays to grout-busting solutions, they all fall short against one simple hero – washing up liquid. Cleaning gurus swear by a modest bottle of Fairy liquid (though other brands are at hand) for bringing back the lustre to your tired shower screen in mere minutes, reports the Express. Rather than forking out for an expensive or harsh chemical cleaner, just grab a bottle of washing up liquid, the experts at Flair Showers advised, explaining: "It's tried and tested and impossible to beat. Washing up liquid is the go-to option for making your shower door sparkle. "Mix one tablespoon of washing-up liquid (a little goes a long way) with approx. 10 litres of water. "You want a relatively thin, non-viscous mix. The solution will clean your shower door exceptionally well and it'll even reduce the amount of arm power required too." A bottle of washing up liquid is all you need (Image: Ralf Geithe via Getty Images ) Article continues below For those aiming for a streak-free finish on their shower doors, pairing the washing up liquid mix with a squeegee is the trick to success. They added: "Great for avoiding streaks, they clean large areas quickly, making it easy to use daily, and let's be honest, they're super satisfying to use too. "While a squeegee might look a bit out of place in the bathroom, it can be used on mirrors, glass and around the rest of the house too. An essential tool for any home. "So, there you have it, the best eco-friendly solutions for cleaning your shower." Cleaning your shower screen will be easy if you use washing up liquid (Image: Kinga Krzeminska via Getty Images ) Alternatively, you can also rub a lemon across the shower door to help give it a zesty yet clean finish. Article continues below Flair added: "Cleaning with a simple lemon is a great way to get rid of soap scum and hard water stains. The acid in the lemon will break down the build-up of any residue. Simply cut a lemon in half and rub it in circular motions onto the glass. Once you have finished rinse the glass with water and wipe it down with a squeegee or microfiber cloth. Not only is it economical, but it's also environmentally friendly."
CTV News
24-06-2025
- Health
- CTV News
BMI is B-A-D, a new study suggests. Here's a better way to measure weight
While waist circumference is a better tool than BMI, it's not as accurate as bioelectrical impedance analysis. Ralf Geithe/iStockphoto/Getty Images via CNN Newsource When it comes to measuring weight, BMI is the acronym everyone loves to hate. Health professionals have long used body mass index as a quick screening tool to fast-track certain patients into a 'code red' management plan — people whose weight puts them in danger of future health problems. The issue is that BMI measures health risk by calculating height and weight. However, muscle and bone weigh more than fat, so BMI measurements can overestimate the danger for people with a muscular build or a larger frame. Conversely, BMI can underestimate health concerns in older adults and anyone who has lost muscle, according to the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston. Now, authors of a new study say a different approach to weight measurement may be a more accurate way to predict future health issues. Bioelectrical impedance analysis, or BIA, uses undetectable electric currents to measure not only the percentage of body fat but also lean muscle mass and water weight. The technology works like this: You stand on metal plates on the machine while holding your hands or thumbs on another metal attachment held away from the body. Once started, the machine sends a weak electrical current through the body. Body fat, muscle and bone all have different electrical conductivity, so the machine uses algorithms to determine lean muscle mass, body fat percentage and water weight. 'We found body-fat percentage to be a stronger predictor of 15-year mortality risk in adults between the ages of 20 and 49 than BMI,' said Arch Mainous III, lead author of the study published Tuesday in the journal Annals of Family Medicine. When it came to deaths from heart disease, people with high body fat as measured by BIA were 262% times more likely to die than people who had a healthy percentage of body fat, said Mainous, a professor and vice chair of research in community health and family medicine at the University of Florida School of Medicine. 'Now remember, using BMI did not flag any risk at all in this younger population, which isn't one we typically consider to be at high risk for heart disease,' said senior author Dr. Frank Orlando, a clinical associate professor of community health and family medicine at University of Florida Health. 'Think of the interventions we can do to keep them healthy when we know this early. I think it's a game-changer for how we should look at body composition,' Orlando said. The problem with BMI BMI is measured by dividing your weight by the square of your height. (If you are mathematically challenged like I am, the National Institutes of Health has a free calculator.) In BMI world, a body mass between 18.5 and 24.9 is a healthy weight, between 25 and 29.9 is overweight, between 30 and 34.9 is obese, between 35 and 39.9 is class 2 obesity, and anything greater than 40 is 'severe' or class 3 obesity. People are considered underweight if their BMI is lower than 18.5. Using BMI to measure health risk works — on a population level. Countless studies have shown that a greater BMI really does correlate with developing chronic diseases of all kinds — cancer, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, kidney and liver disease, and more. Where BMI fails is at the patient level. Imagine a patient who is 'skinny fat' — thin on the outside but riddled with globs of fat wrapped around major organs on the inside. Your BMI would be fine even though your health was at risk. 'Those people are more likely to have nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, more likely to have elevated glucose, more likely to have elevated blood pressure, and more likely to have inflammation in general,' Mainous said. All of these health issues can be treated, stopped and in some cases even reversed if caught early enough, he added. While doctors are aware of the issues with BMI, many prefer it 'because it is cheap and easily put into practice,' Mainous said. 'They'd like to use a more direct measurement such as a DEXA scan, but those cost too much and are not widely available, so everyone falls back to the indirect measure of BMI.' DEXA stands for dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and is the gold standard for body mass analysis. Such machines can cost between US$45,000 and $80,000, so patients typically travel to a hospital or specialty center to get the scan, Orlando said. The cost to the patient can easily be $400 to $500 per scan, he said. 'However, we found the newer versions of bioelectrical impedance are pretty accurate, giving some valid and reliable results,' Orlando said. One note — at-home based bioelectrical impedance products are not nearly as accurate, said Dr. Andrew Freeman, director of cardiovascular prevention and wellness at National Jewish Health in Denver. 'They can be affected a lot by how much body fluid you have, how hydrated you are,' said Freeman, who was not involved with the new research. 'At-home measurements will only give a ballpark — the clinic-based machines are more precise.' Is it time for doctors to embrace body fat measurements? The new study analyzed data on 4,252 men and women who participated in the 1999 to 2004 federal survey called NHANES, or the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a yearly checkup of the nation's health. Technicians measured each person's body composition, including height, weight and waist circumference. In addition, all participants underwent a clinic-based bioelectrical impedance analysis, which measures the body's resistance to electrical currents. Researchers then compared that data with the National Death Index through 2019 to see how many people died. After adjusting for age, race and poverty status, the study found a BMI that labeled someone as obese was not associated with a statistically significant higher risk of death from any cause, when compared with those in healthy BMI range. People with high body fat as measured by bioimpedance analysis, however, were 78% more likely to die from any cause, Mainous said. Measuring waist circumference was also helpful, but not as accurate as body mass. Add that to the 262% higher chance of dying from heart disease found by the study, and it's a no-brainer for doctors to use bioelectrical impedance analysis on patients, Orlando said. 'Let's face it, the magnitude of risk this study shows is enormous,' Freeman said. 'It's scary to think that we may have been using a surrogate — BMI — that may not have been all that accurate over the years.' The study shows how better weight measurements could easily become personalized medicine, Freeman added. 'Imagine you came into your doctor's office,' he said. 'They provided your body fat percentage and an individualized risk assessment. They talked to you about exercise and other lifestyle changes and referred you to a nutritionist. 'They gave you an opportunity to make these changes, and then if needed, helped you out with medication. If the medical profession did this and were able to save many more lives, that would be amazing.'
