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Family crests are not what you might think. The term “family crest” is sometimes used interchangeably with the heraldic terms “coat-of-arms” or “family shield,” but a family crest is actually only one portion of the heraldic display known as a coat-of-arms. The crest is usually the uppermost design element in a coat-of-arms, standing on top of an armor helmet depicted in the coat-of-arms. It is analogous to the crest on top of the heads of some birds.

Design Elements in Family Crests.

Different animals and other graphic representations may be used in the design of family crests. A hand or arm holding a weapon, a lion, horse or dragon, or the wings of an eagle or another bird are often seen.

A wreath (torse) in the family liveries (the principal colors of the family shield) usually surrounds the crest. In family crests of nobles such as princes, dukes or earls, a coronet often takes the place of the torse or sits on top of the torse.

Historical Underpinnings of Family Crests.

Heraldic coats-of-arms and family crests originated in Europe’s early Middle Ages, and they came into popular use during the feudal period. Medieval knights used their crests and coats-of-arms to quickly and easily identify themselves to friends and foes during tournaments and battles. For example, a knight’s shield and helmet were usually painted with colorful, vivid design elements from his coat-of-arms, oftentimes the family crest. A similar system – but with different graphics – evolved and came into use in feudal Japan.

Other than reigning Queens, women are generally not entitled to bear or use family crests, and neither are members of the clergy. These exclusions are an historical artifact that arose because women and clergymen did not fight in battle or participate in medieval tournaments, and accordingly they would not have had a helmet on which to display a family crest. Because the stylized representations which we now think of as being family crests originated as displays on top of actual armored helmets, there was no mechanism to ever create a family crest for a woman or clergyman.

Family Crests Today.

By law, in several countries, only certain specific people (“armigers”) are technically entitled to bear or use family crests and coats-of-arms, even today. But family crests are such attractive designs that they have become popular as wall displays and as part of the design of some jewelry. Like coats-of-arms, heraldic family crests relate to a specific historical individual or family name, and sometimes they symbolically portray that individual’s deeds or events that occurred during the family history. Typically, very specific symbolic devices, colors and patterns are combined to create a heraldic family crest, and each of these components tells part of the story of the person or family that the crest belongs to. They are, however, typically highly stylized and it is sometimes very difficult to accurately decipher the symbolism used in a family crest. But even when the meaning of a family crest has long been lost in the mists of time, it is a beautiful, highly decorative design that evoke the magic of the Middle Ages and links us to a noble past.

NTRODUCTION:

All of you are very much familiar with the saying that “health is wealth“. This is implemented to all individual irrespective to their age, gender, social status and etc. Health is a very important issue for all the individuals. And when it comes to women health, there are lots of questions to be asked.

There are many issues when we talk about women health, out of them the important issues that most commonly experience by all women are discussed here.

MENOPAUSE:

OVERVIEW:
Every woman experiences the natural phenomena of menopause. Menopause is a natural process in which there is permanent stoppage of the normal menstrual cycle and reproductive functions. Most women experience this stage after 40 years of life but normal age range is between 45-55 years.

CAUSES OF MENOPAUSE:

NATURAL MENOPAUSE:
It is the permanent ending of the menstrual cycle due to normal changing in the reproductive and hormonal systems of the body. Natural menopause in women described in three stages;

Perimenopause starts several years before menopause due to reduce secretion of female sex hormone from the reproductive organ. The second stage is actual menopause, in which reproductive organ completely stopped the release of female gamete and secretion of female hormone. It is diagnosed when there is no menses for about 12 months. And the last stage is post menopause that are the years after menopause in which signs of menopause go away but there is greatest risk of health problems.

SURGICAL MENOPAUSE:

In this there is surgical removal of reproductive organs and the women practice the signs and symptoms of menopause.

CANCER CHEMOTHERAPY and RADITION THERAPY:

When the women taking treatment of cancer that is located near the reproductive organs may also result in the menopause. In this, symptoms of menopause begins during treatment or following treatment.

SYMPTOMS OF MENOPAUSE:

Most of the symptoms of menopause are due to he deficiency of female sex hormones, these symptoms includes hot flashes, increase pulse rate, depression, anxiety, mood swing, sleep disturbances, bone breaking, joint and back pain, skin wrinkles and thinning.

OSTEOPOROSIS:

OVERVIEW:
Osteoporosis is the bone disorder in which there is weakening of bones so high risk of breaking. These broken bones are called as fractures and most commonly occur in hips, wrist and backbone. (6) It normally appears after the menopause in which there is severely reduction in the female sex hormone that is involved in the bone formation.

RISK FACTORS:

There is no single cause for osteoporosis but risk factors can play an important role in the breaking of bones. These include;

* AGING: risk of fracture increasing with age.
* FAMILY HISTORY OF BONE PROBLEMS: especially if mother had hip fracture.
* LOW CALCIUM INTAKE: since calcium plays an important role in bone formation deficiency of calcium can be overcome by taking supplements.
* EXCESSIVE INTAKE OF ALCOHOL and CAFFEINE: that is 2 drinks per day and more than 4 cups of coffee, tea and soft drink.
* EARLY MENOPAUSE: that is before age 40.
* REDUCED BODY WEIGHT: that is less than 125 pounds.

SYMPTOMS:
Normally female do not know that she has osteoporosis until fracture occurs but some of the symptoms are backache, a gradual reduction in height accompanied by bent posture and fractures of wrists, hips and and backbone.

COMPLICATIONS:
Fractures due to osteoporosis are very painful and take month for improving. In many conditions, pain goes away when healing is completed. If the pain remains after healing it is called as chronic pain and is due the back bone fracture. What ever the causes of this pain but the feelings of disturbance, anger and fear make it more intense.

HEART PROBLEMS:

OVERVIEW:
Heart problems are uncommon in woman before menopause that do not have high blood pressure, diabetes and excessive fats in blood when compare with man.As the menopause occurs the risk of heart problems become similar to men.

CAUSES OF HEART PROBLEMS:
It has been proven that deficiency of female sex hormone can enhanced the risk of heart problems. Due to the absence of this hormone, normal balancing of good and bad cholesterol levels and blood flow is disturbed that results in the heart problems in post menopausal women.

SYMPTOMS:
Most commonly there are increase chances of chest pain and heart attack due to thickening of vessels walls because of deposition of fats and formation of blood clots as well as narrowing of blood vessels and reduction in the blood flows to heart.

TREATMENT:
To reduce the symptoms of menopause Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is an effective treatment. Besides this, certain herbs and dietary supplements like alfalfa, soybeans, flaxseed oils and olive oils helpful in improving the symptoms of menopause.