Inspirational and Self Help Blog with a Save the World Complex...
This fun and informative quiz is from Gap Medics. Since it was created by our creative friends in the UK, you’ll notice a few wordings that’ll be deliciously British!
It’s a really enjoyable quiz and I’m sure you’ll learn a few things along the way – just as I did. I have to admit, I woefully “misdiagnosed” a couple of “patients.”
Enjoy!
I might just be the queen of e-mail newsletters. Someone recently said that e-mail newsletters are “dead.” I said, “Not in my inbox.. they’re very much alive and well.” One of my favorite health-related newsletters is called Doctor’s House Call. It’s from Dr. Al Sears, MD and I highly recommend it.
I was anxious to share a recent edition with you. How anxious? Well, it just landed in my inbox and hour ago.
THAT anxious.
Many drugs that we buy and use regularly are actually doing our brains harm. Benadryl and Dimetapp (allergies), Unisom (sleep aid), Paxil (depression). Dramamine (motion sickness), and Demerol (pain killer).
I have used Benadryl, personally, for allergies as long as I can remember. As for the others, I’m only familiar with Dramamine – I’ve used it for motion sickness a few times over the years. The problem with these drugs is this: They all belong to a class of drugs called anticholinergics (AC). These medicines are effective because they block the action of acetylcholine in the brain.
As Dr. Sears points out, “.. it’s always a bad idea to wage war on a part of your body.”
I’ll simply let you read the rest of the newsletter by posting it below. I’ll chime in at the bottom with more information about where you can find the natural remedies he lists.
——————– NEWSLETTER —————–
Acetylcholine is a neurotransmitter. It carries messages throughout your nervous system and stimulates muscle contractions throughout your body.
AC drugs stop that stimulation. They block acetylcholine from getting into nerve cells. That can shut down natural movement of muscles in the gut, lungs, heart, urinary tract, and other parts of the body.
Perhaps worst of all, it affects the parts of the brain involved in learning and memory. I’ve seen confusion, memory loss and declining mental skills in my patients who come to me on these drugs.
New research confirms what I’ve seen in my own practice. Studies now link AC drugs to cognitive impairment and dementia.
Researchers looked at patients’ brains using PET scans and MRIs. They found that people taking AC drugs had reduced brain sizes. They also had lower brain metabolism.
In other words, their brains weren’t as active. It was especially true in the hippocampus — the part of the brain associated with memory.
Another study in JAMA Internal Medicine found a link between long-term use of AC drugs and dementia. Pharmacists from the University of Washington tracked nearly 3,500 men and women aged 65 and older. They used pharmacy records to determine all the drugs each person took in the 10 years before starting the study. Then they tracked the people for seven years.
Results showed people who used AC drugs were more likely to develop dementia. And their dementia risk increased with the cumulative dose over the years. Taking an AC for more than three years meant a 54% higher dementia risk than taking the same dose for just a few months.
But even taking AC drugs for a few months can interfere with your ability to think. A study in the journal Alzheimer’s and Dementia found that AC drugs cause cognitive problems when taken continuously for as few as 60 days.
Here are some alternatives I suggest to my patients.
1. Natural Sleep Aids
Instead of Unisom or other dangerous sleeping pills, I recommend these 100% natural alternatives. You can get them at most health food stores.
2. Natural Antihistamines
When your immune system spots an invader, your body releases defensive chemicals called histamines. Itching, sneezing and even hives are all signs that histamines are at work. Instead of reaching for AC drugs like Benadryl and Dimetapp, try these alternatives.
3. Nature’s Antidepressant
Boosting vitamin D can help get you off dangerous AC antidepressants like Paxil. It helps the brain make serotonin, a neurotransmitter that regulates mood. In fact, vitamin D can boost serotonin by anywhere from double to 30 times. 4
I recommend a daily intake of 8,000 IUs of vitamin D. Here are the best ways to get it…
——————– END OF THE NEWSLETTER—————–
Sunshine and Vitamin D foods are easy enough, and the other natural alternatives take very little effort. You can check Dr. Sears’ Private Label Supplements at Primal Force Supplements.
Again, I wholeheartedly recommend the Dr. Al Sears, MD newsletter. I’m going to try the Acerola Cherry and Marshmallow Root (tea) and see if they can handle what my intense allergies throw at them. I’ll let you know how it goes! If you’re looking for a more natural alternative to what ails you, be sure to keep your usual medication on hand, just in case. I’m anxious to try allergy supplements, but I have zero intention of being caught without Benadryl on hand.
Also, if you could possibly be allergic to any supplement or ingredient in that supplement, don’t even think about it. Look for your next alternative.
~ Joi
I do, however, have a great source of information, help, tips, and recipes for my loved ones as well as you. It’s The Complete Idiot’s Guide to the Acid Reflux Diet
This is another one of the excellent “The Complete Idiot’s Guides” that I was sent to review. I love these books so much, I have an entire book shelf that’s orange. I pass them around for others to enjoy, then they come home to roost on the shelf. I pluck them off regularly to find information or recipes.
Seriously, you should begin your own collection of these outstanding books.
If you or someone you know has acid reflux, by all means you’ll want to start your collection with The Complete Idiot’s Guide to the Acid Reflux Diet
If you live with acid reflux, you know how painful it can be – the burning, nausea, bloating, and sleepless nights. But there’s good news! You can reduce and even eliminate your symptoms with a few healthy diet and lifestyle changes and enjoy eating again!
Packed with tips for treating and relieving your acid reflux- plus over 140 delicious recipes that won’t aggravate your symptoms – this helpful guide gives you everything you need to know to be free of acid reflux for good. In it, you get:
Some of the chapters include:
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to the Acid Reflux Diet
Each time I read a Complete Idiot’s Guide, I think, “Why didn’t all those school books I read over the years use THESE authors and THIS approach?!”
If you or anyone you know experiences the evils of acid reflux, I strongly recommend this great book. I’ve used many of the recipes, myself, and I don’t even have acid reflux! Click through one of the links for more information.
Check out the ridiculously impressive collection of The Complete Idiot’s Guides
~ Joi
Without my consent.
As you may know, last month I decided to take part in a National Health Blogger’s Challenge. Each day the blogger was to take the day’s “prompt” and write about something pertaining to health. I was off to a smashing success and was having a lot of fun with the process. I was doing a lot of research about health-related topics, learning a lot of fascinating things, and generally having a great time with the entire process.
Then… what would irony dictate in such a situation? Exactly. I got sick. Smack to the backside.
I won’t bore you with long details. Long story, short – I had my thyroid removed in 1990 and, since that day, have had to take a daily supplement (a supplement to give my body what my non-existent thyroid cannot). My daily medicine recently turned on me – giving me more than my body required. This threw just about everything in my body off kilter and ultimately led to low iron and a host of other less-than-fun side effects.
For a few months, I haven’t felt totally like myself. But you know how we wives and mothers are – the same things that would alarm us about our children and husbands.. we tend to overlook in ourselves.
When I realized that I had “enjoyed” recurring mouth ulcers for two months straight, I broke down and went to the doctor. I would often have two HUGE mouth sores at once. These weren’t your normal mouth ulcers, either. I’ve had those before and, while they’re bad enough, these beasts were far worse. Once, I even got one on my tongue that looked like a small crater. That dude hurt so bad, this non-drinker would have gotten snookered if it would have made me forget the pain for even 10 minutes. Each time, in the middle of the night, as I sat on the bathroom counter putting Orajel on these sores, I’d think, “If I had access to hard liquor I’d drink until I thought I could fly.”
They were that bad.
Of course, since I have never drunk anything stronger than espresso, I’d probably think I could fly as soon as I opened the bottle.
Every meal hurt to eat, coffee hurt to drink, and life kind of sucked for a while. I’d wake up in the middle of the night in hideous pain because my mouth would have dried out while sleeping and the sores would feel like salt had been poured into them.
Salt was actually one of the countless “home remedies” I tried – a particularly painful one.
In addition to the personal hell the mouth sores caused, I also had zero energy and – to use a highly technical phrase my daughters and I use when we don’t feel right – simply felt “poopy” all day and all night. I’d fall asleep at night right in the middle of favorite prime time television shows. During the day, when I normally go back and forth between working in my home office and doing my regular housekeeping chores, I found myself not giving a dang about any of it. I normally go ALL OUT with Christmas decorations, but it was all I could do just to put the tree up this year. And, believe me, that was a day long production. Put a few limbs on… sit and play solitaire on my iPad… put a few decorations on…. lie down and recover.
I wasn’t ME and I wasn’t at all fond of the person impersonating me. After all, I’m seldom ever still and this impostor seldom ever moved!
And all of this went down right in the middle of writing about health topics like how important it is to see a doctor regularly, how vital it is to take care of yourself, etc.
Smack. Right on the butt.
Ultimately, it was the mouth sores that led me and my hard head to the doctor. Nothing like constant pain to break your will, is there?
The doctor was SO impressed with the size of the mouth sore I had at that time. I told him I was kind of lucky at that moment because I only had one. While he was admiring the size, I told him that it was actually the second largest one I’d experienced – that I’d had another one the size of Danny DeVito. He laughed and said he wished he’d seen that one.
I thought, “Me too.” Then I probably wouldn’t have had the 3 that followed.
As my body and health begin to get back to normal, I’m realizing how puny I actually felt. How could I not have seen that something was wrong?!
That’s a question most of us ask in these situations, isn’t it? We swear up and down that things “crept up on us” when the truth is, we knew it all along. We just looked the other way.
Ladies, I honestly believe we are the worst about this. It occurred to me when I was sitting in the doctor’s office – if one of my daughters or my husband had been experiencing painful mouth sores like I had, I would have dragged them kicking and screaming to the nearest doctor. I’d have thought, “Something is wrong, here. This isn’t remotely normal.”
Yet, here I was the one going through it and I had a million reasons why I didn’t need to see the doctor. Duh.
This would be a good time, in all fairness to my family, to point out that they had no idea I was going through all of this. If they had, they would have become impossible nags! All they really knew was I’d had a few mouth sores. They never saw how big they were and I did a great job of hiding the fatigue and weakness from them. Everyone always has a lot going on in their lives and I didn’t want anyone worrying about me. Besides, I fully expected to start feeling like my old self any time. After all….
And yet I couldn’t read what my own body was trying to tell me! Or maybe I simply wouldn’t.
Either way, my mistake could have led to real trouble. That’s why I’m writing all of this for you – on the off-hand chance there are other hard heads out there besides me.
If you find yourself EVER thinking, “I’m just not myself lately..” realize there is a reason for it. Never allow this situation to continue for any amount of time. After all, there are a lot of conditions that if (caught and treated early) won’t amount to anything, but if you ignore them, they can lead to something downright hideous.
In fact, because I let myself get so run down, I became an open invitation to a nasty bug that was going around. I never, never get sick, but here I was – mouth sores, runny nose, bad cough, and the worst sore throat I’ve ever had in my life. It felt like I’d been gargling glass.
If I had gone to the doctor as soon as I realized I wasn’t myself, I’d have spared myself a lot of grief and pain. It’s my hope that you’ll learn from my mistake and will always go to the doctor at the first sign of trouble.
Even if you find yourself feeling more tired than normal, don’t keep writing it off as something else. What’s the worst thing that can happen? The doctor’s going to tell you your healthy?! If that were to happen – and I hope you’d swing by Starbucks to celebrate your good health – you still got information you can use. If you get a clean bill of health, then you know that your lifestyle has to be held accountable. You aren’t getting enough rest, you need more nutrients, protein, and vitamins from food, or you’re running yourself ragged.
The trip to the doctor would have pointed you in the right direction.
Unfortunately, most of us try to weed out all of the things in our lifestyle, THEN go to the doctor. The problem is, by then, we’ll just be more run down and if there IS a medical problem, it will have only gotten worse during that time.
Never take your health for granted. When it has been compromised, even slightly, you realize what a blessing good health is. Life is too delicious to spend one minute of it feeling less than your best.
Listen to your body. If it begins behaving in a way that’s alien to you, don’t make excuses, make an appointment.
~ Joi
Sounds trite, but there it is – the pure, plain, simple truth.
I love books a great, great deal. They’re mentally stimulating – whether they’re a great mystery by Christie, an inspirational book by Max Lucado, a “Complete Idiot’s Guide to..” (love those!), or a self help book everyone… or no one.. is talking about.
I recently finished reading Sitting Kills, Moving Heals
From the Back Cover:
Your Chair is slowly killing you. But exercise alone isn’t the answer. Easy, everyday, all-day movement will keep you healthy for life.
Medical studies show that too much sitting will shorten your life, even if you exercise. No matter how much exercise we get, most of us spend hours each day immobile in our chairs, and we’re fatter, sicker, and more tired than ever before. Why isn’t exercise enough? What’s missing?
GRAVITY!
Dr. Joan Vernikos, former Director of NASA’s Life Sciences Division, applies her groundbreaking NASA research on Gravity Deprivation Syndrome to everyday health here on Earth.
Your body needs to move in gravity to stay healthy. In the near zero gravity of space, astronauts’ muscles and bones atrophy, as if they were rapidly aging. Sitting all day at a desk, in long commutes, or in front of the TV is just like zero G – if you don’t move in gravity, you’ll suffer the same rapid aging as astronauts.
Astronauts are quickly restored to full health by returning to active life on Earth – and so can you. Vernikos shows that the key to lifelong health is more than just traditional gym exercise, but a natural lifestyle of constant, natural movement that resists the force of gravity.
Vernikos’ easy-to-follow, commonsense plan shows how simple, everyday, fun activities like walking, gardening, dancing, golf, and more will keep you healthy, strong, and independent your whole life long.
Sitting Kills, Moving Heals is a fascinating read from page one. Learning about the effects of gravity and “Gravity Deprivation Syndrome” literally made me stand up and pace as I read a great portion of the book! I love the encouragement to move – for adults and children, alike. As the author points out, children mimic what they see adults do. If children see active adults, they’ll tend to be more active, themselves. However, if they see inactive adults who rely too heavily on television, computers, and other forms of technology – they’ll probably mimic the inactivity as well.
Exercise is not a substitute for activities that come naturally throughout the day, 365 days a year, for the rest of your life. – Page 52
Among Other Things, the Book Includes:
Basically, you’ll gain a whole new way of looking at your health and life. This is honestly a book unlike any other and I’m 100 percent certain it” effect your life and health positively.
See Sitting Kills, Moving Heals: How Everyday Movement Will Prevent Pain, Illness, and Early Death – and Exercise Alone Won’t
~ Joi