Bulan: Desember 2007

Stress Can Affect Your Mental Health

Mental health issues that are caused by stress can range from homicidal or other violent acts towards oneself or drive others to addictions. The range of mental health disorders that are stress related is so broad that it can be difficult to understand how two situations fall in the same category. The days of shock therapy are gone for the most part, but it still is used for certain mental illnesses. Gone, too, is the routine procedure of frontal lobotomies to calm patients into total submissiveness.

A large key to dealing with stress related mental health issues is to know how to relieve stress. We now understand that men who are returning from wars endure thoughts and images that affect them in ways that we have only begun to be aware of. Post traumatic stress disorder which is caused by stress can affect victims of abuse and violence of all types. Only recently have we begun to understand how traumatic events can affect the people who survive them.

Despite the many types of mental health disorders that currently exist because of stress, some of them tend to be much more common than others. Mental health disorders are not discriminatory and affect everyone. They do not choose specific people or races to affect. Mental health disorders are equal opportunity problems. These disorders have been proven to be hereditary in some cases but that is the closest generalization that you can expect.

A very common mental illness that is caused by stress is manic/chronic depressive disorder. This is characterized by extreme highs and lows in moods for no apparent reason. Sufferers are irrational and quick to change, in terms of mood. For example, if you suffer from this disorder you are happy–very happy or sad—very sad for no apparent reason. Stress is a major cause of this problem.

Eating disorders, which are also quite common, include anorexia (not eating), and bulimia (binging and purging) are also caused by stress that arises from self esteem. Anxiety disorders are characterized by having an irrational dread of living one’s life, to the point where it is incapacitating.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a form of anxiety disorder where a person obsesses (thinks about) and is compulsive (does) about a particular action such as washing their hands, to the point where he or she repeats this action an inordinate amount of times. Stress is a major aspect of our lives and can lead to serious mental problems if not taken under control. Learning to contain stress can lead to your overall health.

Abbas Abedi

How To Manage Stress To Get Total Stress Relief?

Stress is a complicated web. If I say, it bothers everyone, from the cradle to the grave, from the womb to the tomb, it won’t be an incorrect statement.

Stress has a combined effect, on your body and on your mind. Those who have no jobs are stressed due to unemployment. And ask those who have jobs! They complain about day to day job stress. There may be varied reasons, such as time spent on traveling, low salary, harassment by the boss and lots of outstation tours. To secure relief is the normal expectation of any individual. Nobody wishes to live continuously under stress.

You please note that stress is entirely different from a challenging situation. Difficulties are not to be confused with stress. Stress is mainly your inability to cope up with a particular situation or a cluster of situations.

Can you ever be totally stress-free? In that situation you would not be a human being. You will be an angel in the celestial world! As a human being, you need to know, how to live with a certain level of stress!

I will explain this with an example. A young man wished to take bath in the sea. He went to the sea shore, but saw the waves. He surmised I shall take bath, when all the waves are over. Will such a situation ever come?

The sea has learned the art of living with the waves! You need to know the art of taking bath, swimming in the sea with the waves ever present there! corinna kopf boyfriend

So, the golden rule is, having gone for a sea bath, don’t be afraid of the oncoming waves. If the waves are powerful, duck them, when the waves are friendly, dance with them. When the waves are normal, swim your way further.

There are many strategies for stress relief. Review, yourself and decide whether any lifestyle changes are required. When your body is relaxed, your mind will also be relaxed. Yoga asanas, meditation, breathing techniques, jogging, running and dancing are brilliant techniques of stress relief. Get your body massaged from a professional once in a while. This is a great stress reliever.

The topmost techniques accepted all over the world today for stress relief are meditation, exercise and massage. Each of these serves different purpose, at the same time they contribute to the total purpose of stress relief. They provide you with many additional advantages. Laughter is also one of the best stress relieving methods.

You get ultimate stress relief, when you know the art of working for joy and not from the career view point alone. Work sincerely, by giving the maximum out put, not because your boss is telling you to do it, but only because it is the correct way of life.

Work for a cause- you will have the ultimate stress relief!

Does Stress Damage The Immune System?

Does stress damage the immune system? That question can only be answered by first discussing the difference between acute (short-term) stress and chronic (long-term stress). While acute stress causes responses in the body that include boosting the immune system, chronic stress may impair the immune system.

Better questions are “Does stress damage the immune system on the short term?” and “Does stress damage the immune system on the long term?” The body’s response to acute stress (a real or immediate threat such as a confrontation with a burglar) which is sometimes called the “fight or flight” response includes changes in all the systems of the body. Since the question is “Does stress damage the immune system?”, then we will focus on those responses to acute stress that are temporarily boosting the immune system during this flight or flight scenario.

The most noticeable initial response to the burglar’s appearance is an increase in heart rate. Your body is preparing itself for the possibility that you will need to run. The increase in heart rate triggers the spleen to discharge more red and white blood cells. The red blood cells increase your oxygen supply, while the white blood cells will be necessary for boosting the immune system, in case you fall or the burglar attacks you. Portions of the brain trigger the production and release of cortisol, a primary stress hormone, which dampens less important parts of the immune system, so that white blood cells and other infection fighters can be directed to the areas of the body where injury or infection are most likely to occur, namely the skin, bone marrow and lymph nodes, thus effectively boosting the immune system temporarily. Once the immediate danger has passed, the body systems return to normal.

So, the answer to “does stress damage the immune system” on the short-term is “no”. Acute stress activates the body’s natural defense systems and while this results in boosting the immune system temporarily, it does not “damage” the immune system. Chronic stress, however, is a different story.

Does stress damage the immune system on the long term? It can, if persistent stressful situations, such as a high-pressure job or an unhappy relationship, do not allow the body to return to a normal relaxed state. Instead of boosting the immune system, chronic stress appears to blunt the immune response, increase the risk for infections and impair a person’s response to immunizations. Studies have shown that people under chronic stress have lower than normal white blood cell counts, are more vulnerable to colds and other viruses, take longer to recover from them and experience worse symptoms than people who do not have high stress levels.

If you are concerned about the answer to the question; does stress damage the immune system, then you may feel that you are in a stressful situation over which you have no control. It may not be possible to leave a high-pressure job in order to reduce your stress level and if doing so would cause financial problems, you could actually increase your stress level. Good nutrition, regular exercise and certain health supplements may help you protect yourself from the effects of chronic stress by naturally boosting the immune system and allowing the body to return to a more relaxed state.

Constipation, Hemorrhoids or Piles, and inactivity go hand in hand. If you have been constipated for quite a while, chances are you have hemorrhoids. If you are inactive because you just like sitting around or are confined to a bed or chair, then you will have constipation and hemorrhoids.

So if you want to get rid of hemorrhoids, you need to take 3 steps. These three steps can be done at the same time, especially if you have hemorrhoids that are itchy, painful, and are in need of attention.

First you need to do something about your hemorrhoids. There are many different natural remedies for reducing, relieving, and eliminating hemorrhoids. Since everyone is different in his or her chemical make-up and nutritional requirements, one remedy will not work for everyone.

Each of you has to find out what remedy works best for you. Use the remedy that feels right for you, the remedy where you have the ingredients, or that one based on the severity of your hemorrhoids.

Here’s one remedy you can try – Collinsonia Root Powder Collinsonia is a vegetable, known as “Stone Root” because of it hardness. It comes in powder and liquid. Stone Root is found in Canada and in Florida. It has been found quite helpful in aiding hemorrhoids.

Linda Clark in her book called, Linda Clark’s Handbook of natural remedies for common ailments, 1976, says this about collinsonia root. “I have heard people rave enthusiastically about the results of this remedy, which works quickly.” It’s benefits come from,

Supporting blood vessel contractions and flow

Reducing irritation and inflammation of veins

Providing a tonic effect on weaken veins, capillaries, and tissue

Improving digestion

Helping to keep mucus membranes healthy
Secondly, you need to do something about becoming regular and to eliminate mild or chronic constipation. To start with, do these simple changes in your diet.

Eat fruits as a snack between meals – oranges, apples, bananas, prunes, grapefruits, mangos, watermelon, grapes, cherries.

Stop eating bread, flour products, milk, sodas, back off on eating a lot of protein.

Eat a few serving of vegetables during the day – green lettuce, celery, carrots, and so on

Drink at least 2-3 glasses of water every day or drink more water than you normally do.
The third thing you need to do is add some exercise to your daily routine. It can be any thing as long it is something you like and you do it regularly – walking, swimming, or rebounding. Don’t over exercise; all you need is 10 – 20 minutes per day.

There you have it, the threes step to getting rid of hemorrhoids – a hemorrhoid natural remedy, a slight change in your diet, and 10 minutes of daily exercise that you like.

Drugstore Hemorrhoid Medications

There are many drugstore and alternative Internet products for treating hemorrhoids. Most of the products are not made to cure or eliminate hemorrhoids but to give you temporary relief of itching, pain, swelling or bleeding. I don’t recommend using any type of product that is not natural or that comes from a drugstore.

If the product contains petrochemicals, additives, coloring, dyes, or other chemicals, which enhance its appearance and feel, I would not use them. Most, if not all, of these chemicals will be absorbed into your body where your organs of elimination will have to deal with eliminating them.

All products whether drugs, drugstore medications, or natural formulations use chemicals, substances, oils, and herbs that have the following properties:

Anesthetics – suppresses pain and gives relief…any name with the suffix “caine” like tetracaine

Analgesics – suppresses and give pain relief – some of them are Anacin, Tylenol with Codeine, OxyContin, Darvocet, Ultracet

Vasoconstrictors – helps to narrow or constrict hemorrhoidal veins…any name with the suffix “rine” like phenylephrine

Lubricants – provide lubrication in the colon to relieve constipation – mineral oil, flax seed oil, castor, oil olive oil. bad baby

Astringents – help to tighten tissue, which have been pushed out by hemorrhoid action – zinc oxide, witch hazel, calamine

Keratolytics – help to remove excess hemorrhoidal tissue. They are compounds of sulfur and salicylic acid
Many of the drugstore medications have anesthetics. They can aggravate and irritate the hemorrhoids you’re trying to eliminate. If you are using one of these drugstore medications, consider using a more natural remedy.

In 1975 Carl I. Flath, wrote a book called The Miracle Nutrient – How Dietary Fiber Can Save Your Life. In his book he talks about the effectiveness of drugstore suppositories,

“Suppositories quickly work their way up in the rectum beyond the location of most internal hemorrhoids, and so are of limited value in reducing local pain. As antiseptics they are essentially worthless, since the surface areas they are supposed to protect are under constant exposure to new bacteria….

Anesthetic agents do offer temporary relief from local irritations and pain… Neither the suppositories nor the ointments, however, do anything whatever to correct the basic cause of hemorrhoids—constipation.”

How Do You Get Hemorrhoids?

A lot of people don’t even know they have hemorrhoids. The rectum is not an area you can readily see. Some times you don’t know you have hemorrhoids until you see blood in the toilet water after a bowel movement, when you start to have pain or discomfort in the rectum, or when you feel extra tissue around the rectum.

So how do you develop hemorrhoids? For sure, constipation is not the only way you can get hemorrhoids. Here are some additional ways:

Alcoholism or drinking to many alcoholic drinks

Being pregnant and not eating enough fiber

Doing daily heavy lifting and holding your breath while you do it

Eating excessive processed foods, which are low in fiber and move slowly through your colon.

General body weakness, which will affect the colon function

Having a predisposition to constipation or inheriting a weakness in the colon and rectum area * Holding fecal matter too long in the rectum causing pressure to buildup in the rectum veins – postponing a bowel movement

Having a weak liver, which reduces the amount of bile released into the intestines. Bile helps to active peristaltic action.

Having inflammation in the rectum that causes you to have constipation

Irregular eating patterns

Lack of protein leading to weak tissues and slow healing of wounds

Not eating foods that keeps you constipation free such as fiber, vegetables, essential fatty acids, protein, water.

Not getting the right vitamins and minerals in your food.

Being overweight

Poor muscle tone in the anal area from lack of exercise

Pressure on rectum veins from cysts or tumor in the colon

Sitting in a chair at home, at work, in a car, or in a truck for long periods

Using laxatives to the point where your colon no longer works properly and you end up with constipation
As you can see there are many reasons that you can develop hemorrhoids. And most of them relate to the function of your colon. If you want hemorrhoid relief look at the list and see which condition or situation relates to you and try to make changes in these conditions. In addition to changes add new foods that will help your colon to work better.

Using Herbs to Relieve Hemorrhoids – Aloe Vera, Bilberry, Butcher’s Broom

To relieve hemorrhoids first look for ways to get your bowels moving easier and more frequently so they produce softer stools. I have suggestion ways, in other articles, to do this by changing your diet.

Any straining and puffing you do to push hard or even soft stools out during a bowel movement will aggravate your hemorrhoids and can lead to bleeding and pain.

When completing a bowel movement, make sure you are using the softest tissue available so that when you clean yourself you don’t scrape or aggravate your hemorrhoids. You can also use pre-moisten tissue. Just make sure that the tissue you use is not colored or scented because these chemical additives can aggravate your hemorrhoids.

You may have to take a shower a couple times a day to keep your rectum area clean.

Here are three natural remedies that you can use to aid in eliminating your hemorrhoids.

Aloe Vera

Aloe Vera gel is an astringent that helps to heal open wounds. It is useful in hemorrhoids by applying the gel directly onto your anus. The best type of gel for this is directly from the aloe plant. If you don’t have one, then 100% organic whole leaf aloe gel is second best. You can get this organic aloe at a health food or nutrition store.

If you have a fresh plant, wash a leaf thoroughly with distilled water. Peel it on one side, bend it with the peeled side outward, and slip it into your anus. This will provide you with pain relief and reduce your hemorrhoid bleeding. Just trim down the leaf so it slides into your anus easily.

Aloe Vera juice, that you drink, is also good for hemorrhoids. It helps to soften your stools and to activate peristaltic action. If you like aloe juice, then drink around 1/2 a cup of Aloe Vera juice three time a day.

You can add 1/4 or 1/3 part aloe juice to a cup of apple juice to make the taste easier to handle. To make this aloe-apple juice more effective, add 10 drops of barberry extract.

Barberry is an astringent for blood vessel congestion along the colon and rectum. It will improve blood circulation; it stimulates the immune system to resist disease, and will tone body tissues. It also is capable of stopping bleeding hemorrhoids.

Bilberry

Bilberry’s active ingredients are flavanoids. Bilberry contains chemical called “anthocyanosides.” This fruit like herb has been used in Europe for a long time. In clinical studies, it has shown to be effective in treating weak capillaries by strengthening their walls.

Buy the 25% standardized formula and take 100 mg three times a day of bilberry. Bilberry will give you hemorrhoid relief.

Butcher’s Broom

Butcher’s broom, an evergreen bush, has a history of being used for varicose veins and hemorrhoids. As an extract, it contains “ruscogenins”, which can narrow blood vessels and decrease their inflammation and swelling. It strengthens and tones veins and capillary walls.

Take 100 mg of butcher’s broom three times a day. Use the type that has 9-11% ruscogenins.

Now you can use either of the three herbal remedies for hemorrhoid relief. If one is not working to good, try the other. Once you have gotten the hemorrhoid relief that you want stop using the herbal remedy.

10 Ways to Avoid a Heart Attack

A heart attack is known as a myocardial infarction. This occurs when the heart muscle is damaged or does not receive enough oxygen. Many cardiac related problems occur due to blockages in arteries that carry purified blood away from the heart to different parts of the body. Another cause is the formation of blood clots.

Very often, it is quite difficult to differentiate between a heart attack and heartburn. The common signs of a heart attack are a tightness, pain, or discomfort in the chest. Sweating, nausea, and vomiting that are accompanied by intense pressure in the chest. A radiating and intense pain in the chest that extends from the chest to the left arm. A shortness of breath for more than a few minutes. If you have any of the above you must consult the doctor or go to the emergency rooms.

If you even think you are having a heart attack you must call for a cardiac care ambulance, and put under your tongue a sorbitrate or chew an aspirin. If you are allergic to aspirin don’t take one. At the hospital care will include rapid thrombolysis, cardiac catheterization, and angioplasty. They will also administer intravenously clot busting medications. only dans ali3ngirl

The risk factors for a heart attack include: smoking, diabetes, high levels of cholesterol, hypertension, family history of heart diseases, atherosclerosis, lack of exercise, obesity, and fast foods.

Reduce the risks of a heart attack by:

1. Quitting smoking.

2. Eating healthy. Avoid fatty foods, excess salt, and red meats.

3. Controlling high blood pressure and diabetes.

4. Ensuring regular exercise at least 30 minutes a day. Walking is most beneficial.

5. Preventing obesity. Doing all you can to maintain weight.

6. Choosing to live a healthy lifestyle.

7. Practicing meditation.

8. Doing regular relaxation and breathing exercises.

9. Undergoing periodic cardiac evaluations.

10. Including foods that are rich in anti-oxidants in your diet.

A killer disease, according to the American Heart Association approximately 58,8 million people in the US suffer from heart diseases. And, about 950,000 Americans die of heart ailments each year. Heart diseases and death from it can be prevented by maintaining your health. Find a balance in life between work and other activities, abandon the couch for the outdoors, don’t watch sports on television play sports instead and you can hope to live a long and fulfilled life.

Why Doctors Struggle to Treat High Blood Pressure

Although a lot of research has been done on high blood pressure, the best way to treat it medically remains a mystery to doctors. The medical profession continue to perform studies, test drugs and try different treatments on individuals while patients have to go through the process of finding out with their doctor what works best for them.

Why is that? Surely with all the research which has been done, they have found the medication which will cure the problem?

What is being shown in all the studies is that hypertensive disease (high blood pressure) is not a simple phenomenon with one cause and one cure. It is brought about by a number of different processes – metabolic, genetic and environmental, which together create the condition. Working out which factors are at play in any one individual (and finding out how to treat them) is therefore a complex business and difficult for doctors to pin down. And new drugs are being frequently released onto the market for this condition too – so this all adds to the complexity.

So you can’t expect to be given a one drug fits all solution on your first visit to the doctor after finding out you have the condition. Some exploration about what is best for you is likely to be necessary. You may be given one blood pressure drug for a few weeks to see if it is right for you and then something else to try if it does not suit you. massage BellaBxby

And while you should always consult your doctor if you have hypertension (or any other health issue) many doctors now believe that lifestyle changes are the best way to treat it, especially if you have a mild case. So don’t be surprised if your doctor simply wants you to lose weight, take more exercise and change your diet a bit rather than have you take a hypertensive drug.

How to Prevent Coronary Heart Disease and Heart Attack

Coronary heart disease and heart attack like heart infarction can in great extend be prevented by lifestyle measures.

THE DIRECT CAUSES OF HEART DISEASE

The direct causes of coronary heart disease and heart attack are factors like these:

– Narrowing of blood vessels in the heart and the rest of the body by arteriosclerosis.

– High blood cholesterol level.

– High blood pressure.

– Over-weight.

– Diabetes.

– High level of the amino acid homocystein in the blood.

– High content of low density lipoprotein (LDL) and low content of high density lipoprotein (HDL) in the blood. Lipoprotein is a combination of protein and fatty substances bound together.

– Inflammation in the circulatory system.

– High age.

– Inherited tendencies for high cholesterol levels and heart disease.

– Men have somewhat greater chance of getting heart disease than women.

These factors are interrelated in complicated ways, and are causing or amplifying each other. For example, arteriosclerosis will cause higher blood pressure, and high blood pressure will cause even more arteriosclerosis. Many of these factors are ultimately caused or aggravated by these lifestyle factors:

-A too high consume of fat, cholesterol and sugar.

-Consuming the wrong fat types.

-Lack of fibre, vitamins, minerals and other diet deficiencies.

-Stress at work and in the daily life.

-Smoking.

-Lack of exercise.

Lifestyle adjustments will therefore be the main methods of preventing heart failure.

GENERAL DIET ADVICES

A diet with the aim of preventing heart disease is generally the same as a diet to prevent cancer and other diseases. Here are the general diet advices:

– Avoid or reduce the amount of food that are industrially processed, artificially made or heavily fried.

– Eat fish at least every second day. Also eat seafood and fouls.

– Do not eat very much red meat.

– Eat 5 fruits or vegetables each day. Each piece should be of the size of an apple or carrot. They should be raw or carefully boiled so that the nutrients are not washed out.

– Eat full corn bread, full corn cereals, peas, beans and potatoes.

– Eat just a moderate amount of fat.

– Consume cholesterol rich foods like egg, spawn or liver in just moderate amounts.

– Ideally most fat you eat, should be of the type mono-unsaturated. You also need some poly-unsaturated fat of the types omega-3, and omega 6, but not too much of omega-6. The consumption of saturated fat should be moderate.

– In order to achieve right fat balance, much of the fat supply should come from a blending of sources like olive, olive oil, canola oil, nuts, nut oil, sunflower, sunflower oil, linseed oil (flax oil), fish and fish oil.

– Use only a moderate amount of soy oil and corn oil in the diet. Only using such oil types will give you too much poly-unsaturated fat of the omega-6-type.

– Use just a very moderate amount of fat sources like butter, coconut oil and palm oil. A high consumption of these fat sources gives you too much saturated fat.

– Avoid altogether fat that has been chemically altered, giving so-called trans-fat. This type of fat is often found in margarine, cookies, snacks, fast food and other pre-made food.

– Consume just a very moderate amount of sugar, refined flour or refined cereals.

– Consume just a moderate amount of tranquilizers and stimulants like alcohol and caffeine.

– Use just a moderate amount of salt in the food. However, in warm weather and by hard physical work, you will need more salt.

DIET SUPPLEMENTS THAT HELP PREVENT HEART DISEASE

Evidence suggests that it will be helpful to take some supplements of natural substances to prevent heart disease and help to ameliorate already manifest heart problems. These supplements are:

– Omega-3-fatty acids derived from fish and other marine sources, especially the fatty acids EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and alfa-linolaeic acid. 1 gram a day of each of these substances may be taken as a supplement. Higher amounts should only be taken under medical supervision, since higher amount of these substances may cause bleeding tendencies, and may suppress the immune system.

– Supplement of vitamin C has been thought to help prevent heart disease, but newer findings cast doubt upon this.

– Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine), folic acid / folate, vitamin b12 and riboflavin seem to prevent the building up of the substance homocystein in the blood and thereby help prevent heart disease, according to results from research projects.

GET RID OF OVER-WEIGHT

The lifestyle measures listed in this article will also help you loose weight. If these measures are not enough, you should consider engaging in a more specific weight reduction program. You should choose a program that has a moderate fat content philosophy. Some weight reduction programs have a higher fat and low carbohydrate consume philosophy, and those are probably not the best ones to reduce the chance of getting heart disease.

EXERCISE

You should do some exercise of at least half an hour at least every second day. Condition training as vigorous walking, jogging, cycling or swimming is best for reducing the heart attack probability. Muscular building exercises are also of value, especially exercises building leg muscles.

STOP SMOKING

If you smoke, stopping or reducing this habit radically will decrease the chance of getting heart problems.

CONTROL DIABETES

If you suffer from diabetes type 1, a good control of the disease by insulin medication and by diet adjustments will help to prevent heart disease.

Many people over the age of 50, and an increasing number of young people suffer from diabetes type 2 because of bad lifestyle. This disease does not necessarily give dramatic symptoms, but the disease increases the chance of getting serious heart problems, and many have the disease without knowing it. This disease can be prevented by the same lifestyle measures depicted above. If you already have got the disease, a more rigorous control of carbohydrate intake is necessary. And sometimes also medication must be used. People over the age of 50 and younger people that do not feel well should find out if they suffer from this condition.

TAKING ASPIRIN

Low doses of acetyl salicylic acid or aspirin prevent heart disease by persons bearing a high risk for heart disease. However, this medication increases the risk of bleeding and should not be used without constant medical supervision. For persons with a low risk of heart disease, the dangers of aspirin will be greater than the benefits.