Wise Health Consumer Month

The American Institute of Consumer Medicine has designated February as Wise Health Consumer Month. Here are a few preventive medicine tips and facts:

Always wash your hands before eating. During the winter months, wash them more frequently and carry an alcohol-based hand sanitizer to use frequently.

Proper hand washing includes wetting hands with warm water, working up a lather with soap, rubbing hands together for at least 15 to 20 seconds, scrubbing all surfaces (including wrists and fingernails), rinsing well, drying with clean or disposable towel, and turning off the faucet with the towel.

Change your hand towels at home weekly; germs stick to these easily and can make your hands worse after washing.

The three leading causes of preventative death, in order, are smoking, obesity, and alcohol consumption.

Get an hour of vigorous activity daily, or two hours of moderate activity - it can cut the risk of bowel or colon cancers by 22 to 35 percent. And scrubbing the kitchen floor, vacuuming the room, and gardening all count!

Use sunscreen daily: it is one of the few cancers that is directly preventable, and more than one million people are diagnosed each year.