Give The Gifts Of Health

'Tis the season for gift giving and what better present can you give a loved one than the gift of health?

The Early Show's Dr. Emily Senay offers a few gift ideas that are good for your health.

Here are her suggestions:

HoMedics Back Rejuvenator - This 8-motor programmable back massager with percussion action and heat transforms virtually any seat at home, at work, or in the car into a private massage center. With eight powerful massage motors, including two deep kneading percussion action motors for the lumbar area, and six programmable massage styles, the Back Rejuvenator allows you to customize your massage. It also is equipped with a soothing heat function, individual zone control and auto and home adaptors to target just the right areas whenever you need it. Comes with a car adaptor.

Available at Bed Bath & Beyond, $70

Lifestream Home Use Blood Cholesterol Monitor -This is the first home device that quickly and accurately measures total blood cholesterol and has been cleared by the FDA for accuracy and precision. Results appear in approximately three minutes. To take a home reading, a lancet device is used to prick a finger and a single drop of blood is placed onto a test strip. Both the test strip and a Smart-Card (included) are inserted into the monitor and results are shown on the LCD.

Unit shows past results: average cholesterol across the last six test measurements taken. Smart-Card stores up to 200 test results that can be shared with your physician. The monitor operates on 9-volt battery (included). It also includes one package of six test strips and Smart-Card.

Note: This does not replace the need to have your doctor perform blood tests. It only measures your total cholesterol but it is a good way to keep someone on a healthy track- it can motivate someone's healthy habits much like having a bathroom scale.

Item costs $149.95 (Additional Testing Kits $19.95; Additional Smart-Cards $19.95) and can be purchased at www.hammacher.com, or 866-HAMMACHer (866-426-6224), or at any Hammacher Schlemmer store.

The Walker W300 telephone with Clarity Power - It is a great gift for a friend or relative with mild to moderate hearing loss. Those experiencing high frequency hearing loss lose the ability to hear sounds above 2000 hertz. For example, someone may say they can hear, but do not understand what is being said. Generally high frequency sounds are consonant sounds such as "ch" and "sh", sounds that give words their intelligibility. Examples also include woman and children's voices.

A Clarity telephone is different from a standard telephone, which has a volume control that increases the volume level of all frequencies. Clarity Power Technology amplifies only the hard-to-hear high frequencies so that words come through clear and easy to understand. Hearing loss is a very common issue (10 percent of Americans, 28 million people have some degree of hearing loss!) and many of the people who have difficulty hearing aren't aware of solutions.

A great gift for that relative who keeps asking you to repeat yourself and then denies that he has a hearing problem!

W300 Features:

• An on/off switch for Clarity Power, so it can be used as a standard telephone;
• A slide bar control so users can adjust the level of high frequency amplification;
• An extra-large lighted keypad, making dialing easy;
• An extra-loud ringer, to make sure those who have hearing difficulties know when they're receiving a call;
• A customizable ringer so users can adjust volume, frequency and speed of ring;
• Seven memory keys to make contacting friends and family effortless;
• Three extra-large programmable buttons, suggested to make emergency calls quickly;
• Fail-safe power failure operation, so even when the electricity has gone out, the telephone will work.

The Philips HeartStart Home Defibrillator– It is the first of a new generation of defibrillators designed for the home. It features design refinements that make it fast to learn and easy to use. Clear, calm voice instructions guide an operator through every step of the defibrillation process, even reminding him to call for emergency help and providing CPR coaching.

The SMART Pad technology senses the responder's actions with the pads and automatically adjusts the pace of the voice instructions to meet the individual responder's needs. The patented voice coaching for adult and infant/child CPR provides voice instructions and audio cues for each breath as well as the appropriate number and rate of chest compressions. Daily self-tests of multiple system components, including a check for pads readiness, renders the device virtually maintenance free. A loud chirp alerts family members when any part of the system needs attention. While cardiac arrest is uncommon among children, Philips is the only manufacturer to offer specially designed pediatric pads that make automated external defibrillators safe for use on infants and children under 8 or weighing less than 55 pounds.

The defibrillator monitors the patient's heartbeat (or lack thereof) before authorizing a shock - the machine will not emit a shock if the patient does not require one. This is a good gift idea for someone with a history of cardiac arrest or for someone who lives far away from a hospital/medical center. This is a lifesaving device where seconds count.

Where to buy: Anyone with a doctor's prescription can buy the HeartStart Home Defibrillator. It will be available at select CVS/pharmacy stores early next year. It is available now at www.HeartStartHome.com or by calling 1.866.DEFIBHOME (1.866 -333-4246). The manufacturer's suggested retail price: $2,295 (US).

Homemade Fruit basket - As the old saying goes, "You are what you eat." Eating healthy foods is an integral part of staying fit so why not give a healthy and tasty produce basket to someone you love. This is an easy and affordable way to give a healthy gift - you don't need to dole out fattening cakes, cookies, and chocolate to show someone you care. You can make your own healthy fruit basket instead.

The basket itself will run you about $20. For $30, you can go to your nearby supermarket or health food store and pick out a HUGE variety of seasonal and exotic fruits. A basket like this would cost you over $100 if you ordered it from a florist or catalog, but you can make this yourself for only $50. This also makes a great last minute gift idea for those of you who have been procrastinating!