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amina13 published in Health

Cholesterol Facts

With all the news and warnings about the dangers of high cholesterol, many people view cholesterol as a “bad” substance that should be eliminated completely from our lives. In truth, cholesterol serves some important functions in the body. In order to understand how cholesterol affects the body, one must first understand what cholesterol is.

Cholesterol is a waxy substance that is attached to the fats in our bloodstream and is present in all of the cells of the body. Cholesterol comes from food that we eat, as well as being manufactured directly by the liver. Cholesterol is an important regulator in the bloodstream, as it helps to regulate the formation of many cells as well as hormones. However, to have too high or too low of a cholesterol count in the blood can be a very dangerous factor, often leading to a heart attack or a stroke. Although cholesterol is prevalent in the blood stream, it cannot dissipate in the blood. The cholesterol maneuvers throughout the body attached to lipids (fats).

 1.      LDL Cholesterol

There are two main types of cholesterol. The first type is called LDL cholesterol, and the other is HDL cholesterol. LDL cholesterol, otherwise known as low-density lipoprotein, is considered the “dangerous” cholesterol. LDL cholesterol can build up on the artery walls. Over time this plaque build-up blocks blood flow, reducing circulation and causing stress and damage to the heart. This raises blood pressure, and eventually leads to heart disease or a heart attack. Individuals that have higher levels of LDL run a much higher risk of having heart disease. Although LDL is affected by genetics, there are several precautions that individuals can take towards keeping safe LDL levels.

 2.      HDL Cholesterol

The other form of cholesterol is HDL, or high-density lipoprotein. HDL is considered the “good” cholesterol. HDL cholesterol is important for the body to have as this type of cholesterol helps filter out LDL cholesterol from the lining of the arteries, as well as transporting fat in the bloodstream (triglycerides) to the liver so that it can be excreted from the body. It is believed that even having high levels of HDL is safe, as it can help protect one’s heart from a heart attack or stroke. Low counts of HDL could potentially lead to a heart attack and stroke, however this is rare for people eating a western-style diet, which is typically high in both forms of cholesterol.

3.Source of Cholesterol

Most of the cholesterol in our bodies comes from the foods we eat. Foods high in fats, particularly saturated and trans fats, contribute to high levels of LDL cholesterol. Meat and dairy products are the main sources of LDL cholesterol, while leafy vegetables, fruits, and nuts are more nutritious alternatives that have higher levels of HDL cholesterol. While genetics does play a role in cholesterol levels, a change in diet is the most effective way to lower dangerous cholesterol levels, and reduce your risk of heart disease and associated health problems.

Certain natural substances found in Vasacor, including plant sterols, fish oils, and policosanol have been shown in numerous clinical studies to be highly effective in promoting healthy cholesterol levels, particularly when combined with a healthy diet and exercise. If you are concerned about your cholesterol levels, now is the time to make a change, and Vasacor can help.

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suhith published in Technology

Key advantages of analyzing voice of customer (VOC) data using text analytics

Customer expectations of brands are higher than ever. In the age of disruptive technological advancements (known as the fourth industrial revolution), products and services that are innovative today become outdated tomorrow. In this scenario, the experience provided by a company is one of its key differentiators.

According to one survey, 76 percent of consumers said they expect their needs and expectations to be understood by companies. But customer experience is evolving as well, to the extent that brands cannot rely only on customer interactions, marketing, ecommerce and more to acquire and retain customers, but they must demonstrate they have their customers’ interests in mind.

Considering these facets, the onus is on brands to keep a close watch on the customer journey and identify ways to refine their product and service offerings.

Voice of Customer (VOC) helps understand the pain points of their customers and provides the foundation for improving products and services, which can lead to happy, loyal customers, and increased business revenue.

Also read: Voice Of Customer Analysis For The World`s Largest Sports Goods Retailer.

What is voice of customer?

It is the process of collecting and analyzing feedback data (comprising of emails, service interactions, chatbots, social media, et cetera) from customers to understand the potential areas of improvement for services and products and, importantly, improve customer experience.

Capturing customer feedback has been fundamental to improving and growing a business but VOC focuses on gathering individual data over cumulative data, thus ensuring the feedback is incorporated to improve products and services.

Text analytics tools have the capability to analyze large volumes of customer feedback data in real-time and provide actionable insights.

A well-executed VOC initiative will ensure all departments of the company work in harness to resolve an issue. This approach helps improve the overall customer experience, solve the challenge that come along the way and drive business growth.

What can voice of customer do for your brand?

Without a solid VOC strategy aka churn prevention strategy, brands run the risk of missing out on valuable opportunities to reduce dissatisfied customers and leverage happy customers, who stay loyal and become brand ambassadors.

That said, VOC is not just about surveying existing customers and hoping for a positive response. Brands must be willing to understand feedback from each customer, analyze their main concerns, and resolve and respond back to them.

Advantages of voice of customer

Listening to customers and working to enhance their experience can benefit a company in multiple ways.

Enhance customer experience

It is important for brands to be holistic about their VOC program whereby they are engaged with customers at every stage of their journey (from awareness to decision) to understand key issues and highlight the positive aspects of the brand and its solutions.

This will help identify areas that need to be improved, which is the first step in taking the necessary action to resolve the problem and also show the customers they are being listened to.

The global pandemic, too, has played its part in shifting the mindset of buyers, who are now more online than ever and therefore expect quick, easy online experiences. One report states that 65 percent of customers prefer buying from brands which offer fast and easy online transactions.

Performing voice of customer analysis will also help improve processes such as onboarding and delivery and provide a unified omnichannel customer support.

Churn rate reduction

Identifying the areas of concern in the customer journey helps brands understand why customers may be leaving — known as customer churn.

Targeted customer satisfaction (CSAT) surveys at the time of opting out can, for example, indicate the reasons for customer churn. Voluntary feedback from churned customers on social media channels can also be helpful information for spontaneous feedback is usually the most honest.

Product improvement

As per a 2020 survey of product managers, 52 percent of respondents said their products and features were mainly inspired by customer feedback.

Because customers pay to acquire and use products and services, they understand the usability and the value better than most. Thus feedback from customers not only helps with adding new product features and enhanced service offerings, it also keeps customers happy.

Increased revenue

Enhanced customer experience, reduced churn rate and improved product and service help boost business revenue.

Happy, satisfied customers are likely to not only repeat purchase, but they are also potential ambassadors, who will recommend other potential buyers to their preferred brand.

Voice of customer analysis also drives data-driven decisions, less overall spending and, ultimately, more revenue.

Steps in voice of customer

A typical VOC program involves three main steps: feedback data capture, data analysis and implementation.

Feedback data collection: Brands are already probably collecting large volumes of customer feedback data from customer relationship management (CRM) systems, service feedback tools, emails and more. In addition, building a customer support ticket management system helps funnel all customer support to one destination, simplify processes, facilitate data collection and more.

For data collection, web scraping tools can also be helpful in extracting comments from social media websites, which even provide APIs to directly connect to their data, online reviews and so on.

Data analysis: As mentioned above, text analytics tools such as teX.ai help analyze customer feedback data and generate actionable insights.

Sentiment analysis solutions can be implemented on the voice of customer data to identify public opinion about a brand (whether it’s positive, negative or neutral). Text analytics solutions also help generate text summaries, which help uncover emerging trends and topics.

Among the key advantages of using such software is they help perform real-time analysis, can be trained to cater to specific needs of a brand, analyze multilingual data and provide high accuracy.

It might be interesting to read on the importance or why sentiment analysis plays key role in strategy formulation.

Implementation: After the voice of customer data is analyzed, it can be brought to life with easy-to-understand visualizations, which help identify the problem areas or even the individual aspects of the data. Data visualizations make it easier to follow VOC through the entire customer journey and to know, almost instantly, where changes may need to be implemented.

Summary

Achieving customer success is the main goal of voice of customer programs, proactively understanding customer challenges or questions and quickly and promptly providing solutions and answers. Customer feedback generated from VOC initiatives helps work towards customer success and ultimately provide customers with a seamless, satisfactory experience from start to finish.

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simon hayes published in Health

Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, and Treatment Of Erectile dysfunction

Erectile dysfunction also known as impotence is a male weakness in erection. A male suffering from it cannot get an erection. Even if there is an erection, it will be too soft to have any use.

The problem is not related to age, but age related health problems cause erectile dysfunction.  Lifestyle diseases like diabetes, blood pressure, cardiovascular issues, and poor health create conditions that led to erection difficulty. 

Often the problem emerges in the 40s, but nowadays, even young males suffer from erection issues due to emotional and psychological issues. Let us study its causes, diagnosis and treatment options.

Symptoms

First of all understand that the occasional erection issue is not a sign of erectile dysfunction. When there is at least 60 percent of erection failure, you can be sure that it is erectile dysfunction. You need to take it seriously to prevent its progression.

The first symptom is when you fail to get an erection even when fully aroused. Second symptom, soft erection even with full arousal. Third is difficulty in sustaining the erection you manage to have. And last, the reduced desire for intimacy.

Main causes

Blood pressure, diabetes, cholesterol formation on heart arteries, obesity, alcoholism, low testosterone levels etc can cause difficulties in erection. Unhealthy lifestyle, consumption of unhealthy food, and lack of physical exercises create conditions for lifestyle diseases.

Uncontrolled diabetes, blood pressure problem and obesity increase risk of erection failure in the near future. Medical studies and observations point to the fact that a man with waist 42-inch or more is more likely to get erection than a male without lifestyle diseases.

Psychological issues

Depression, anxiety, stress, relationship issues, and phobias are also responsible for difficulties in erection in large sections of males with erection defects. Anxiety and stress could be due to personal or business matters. The lack of confidence in dealing with the partner also creates anxiety and stress leading to difficulty in maintaining an erection.

Medical issues

Injury in the pelvic area which disturbs the blood movement may also show difficulties in maintaining an erection. Heart stroke, prostate issues like prostate cancer or benign prostate enlargement affect the erection process.

Side effects of antidepressants or prolonged medication also interfere with a healthy erection process.  An addiction to smoking, alcohol, drugs or any substance weakens  control over the erection process.

Diagnoses

It involves comprehensive medical examination, blood tests, physical examination to check the presence of erection issues and then its causes. When all medical tests are negative, doctors may recommend psychological assessment to identify mental issues behind erection failure.

Psychological assessment is a series of questions which are already fixed by the psychologist to determine the mental condition of the patient at the time of assessment.

Treatment options

Treatment options depend on the underlying cause and medical status report on the patient.  Often doctors recommend changes in diet, lifestyle and focus on relations with the partner to get permanent relief from the problem. But these recommendations may work in case of younger males.

Mid aged males are suggested medical treatments of underlying causes. They are also suggested as an immediate solution in the form of 150 mg Sildenafil Citrate in case of severe cases.  The permanent solution comes only by taking care of underlying health issues.

Vacuum tubes

Males who like non medication solutions are recommended hollow tubes. Tubes create vacuum inside to draw in blood flow. The process is very simple to get cured through use of vacuum tubes.

Surgery

Surgery option is the last option for seniors who fail to get cured by any other method. The surgery is conducted to implant flexible rods to help males inflate the rods whenever the need arises. But this option is reversed for older males.

Injection is also an option for older males who do not get cured by other methods. Injection method is not preferred by the majority of males for its lack of privacy in treatment.

Lifestyle intervention

Younger males and mid aged males who are in good health get relief by just changing diet and including moderate exercise regimen. It has been observed that without Generic Levitra 40mg  such males can get back the natural erection process.

Cognitive behavior therapy

Cognitive behavior therapy is for emotional and psychological causes. It is basically a talk therapy that tries to change the behavior of the person towards the same issue that earlier caused negative feelings. It is also non medication treatment for anxiety, stress or phobia related issues.

Conclusion

Erectile dysfunction is a common male issue. Early detection is a sign of an unhealthy lifestyle or food habits. Never ignore it if it persists as it may be a sign of cholesterol formation in arteries. Consult a doctor to understand its cause and treatment option accordingly.

 

The early detection will also help you to cure the weakness permanently by a healthy diet, exercises and better relations with the partner.

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