A high level of anxiety is the cause of panic attacks. You will be better able to get rid of your panic attacks if you understand how anxiety comes about.
Is anxiety dangerous or can it actually be helpful? Before answering this question, perhaps we should look at what anxiety really is.
Anxiety can be described as a state of foreboding or trepidation coming from the anticipation of a danger or peril, whether real or imagined, in a specific circumstance or situation. Nearly everyone has experienced anxiety at some moment in their lives; however, not all folks have experienced a panic attack or acute anxiety and have no idea how terrifying the experience is. This can include tightness in the throat and chest, dizzy spells leading to panic, racing heart, shortness of breath, hot flushes followed by waves of anxiety, not feeling connected to what is happening around you, obsessive worries and uninvited thoughts, overwhelming trepidation that the anxiety will thrust you over the brink, tingling, blurred eyesight, feelings of dread and feelings of breathlessness, just to name a few.
When these odd sensations occur, especially for the first time, and individuals do not understand why, they feel they have something acutely wrong with them and often will go to the emergency room. The likelihood of losing complete control seems very real and is obviously very scary.
It's probably safe to say that everyone has heard of the fight or flight response. Can this be one of the causes of panic attacks? Is there a connection linking the fight or flight response and the peculiar physical symptoms that occur during and after a panic attack?
Anxiety is a response to a perceived danger or peril, whether real or not real. The effects of anxiety are directed toward either fighting or fleeing from the danger. So, actually, anxiety is a "built-in" protective mechanism to shield a person from harm. This may seem contradictory if you think your anxiety is, in reality, causing you harm.
The anxiety that was created by the fight or flight response was very essential for the survival of our ancient ancestors since they often encountered real danger, and the "built-in" response would take over so that they could take immediate action, whether it was to attack or to run. Even today, in our very hectic and unsafe world, this is still a necessary protective mechanism. It turns out to be very valuable when you have to react to a real danger within a split second.
In a nutshell, anxiety is a natural mechanism to safeguard us from danger. As such, it is a mechanism that protects but does not harm -- an essential detail to bear in mind when attempting to conquer your panic attacks.
LoseYourAnxietyFast.com shows you how to eliminate anxiety and panic attacks for good.
Read more!
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Monday, August 31, 2009
Can You Die From A Panic Attack?
It may feel like it but, the fact is, your body won't let you. Every one of us has an autonomic nervous system that is directly involved each time we are faced with danger. The brain sends out signals to the nervous system. The nervous system is divided into two subsections - the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system.
The sympathetic nervous system gets us ready to "fight or flee" (the "fight or flight" response), and the parasympathetic nervous system calms the body back down to its normal state.
Any time either of these systems is triggered, they stimulate the total body, which has an "all or nothing" effect. Thus, when a panic attack occurs, the person often experiences multiple different symptoms all through the body.
The sympathetic system tells the body to release adrenaline from the adrenal glands on the kidneys. Adrenaline functions as the body's chemical messengers to keep the activity going. When a panic attack starts, it does not switch off as effortlessly as it is turned on. There is always a phase of what would seem increased or endless anxiety, as these messengers travel throughout the body.
After a while, it is time for the parasympathetic nervous system to do its job, which is to return the body to routine functioning after the perceived danger is no longer present.
We can will the parasympathetic nervous system into action by utilizing a coping strategy that we have learned, for instance, a relaxation technique. A helpful thing to bring to mind is that this system will be brought into action at some stage whether we will it or not. The body cannot stay in an ever-increasing spiral of anxiety. It reaches a place where it simply must kick in, relaxing the body. This is one of the many built-in mechanisms our bodies have to protect us.
Eventually the sympathetic nervous system will stop, even if you try to keep it going with worrying thoughts, and the parasympathetic nervous system will take over. This is because, in time, it becomes a little smarter than us and realizes that there really is no danger. You can be certain that your body's primary goal is to keep you alive and well.
You will not die from a panic attack, no matter how hard you try to convince yourself otherwise. Your body will override that alarm and search for a state of balance. There has never been a reported event of someone dying from a panic attack.
It may help to remember this the next time you have a panic attack; the causes of panic attacks cannot do you any real harm. Your mind possibly will make the sensations last longer than the body intended, but eventually everything will return to a state of balance.
The interference for your body that is caused by a panic attack is nothing more than the sensations of doing strenuous exercise. Our body is not distressed by these symptoms because it knows its own capability but our mind panics and overreacts. Most of us have a tendency to always think the worst and magnify our own sensations. A racing heartbeat becomes a heart attack. An excessively active mind makes us think we're on the verge of a breakdown. The correct information will go a long way in overcoming panic attacks.
To learn how to eliminate anxiety and panic attacks for good, go to LoseYourAnxietyFast.com.
Read more!
The sympathetic nervous system gets us ready to "fight or flee" (the "fight or flight" response), and the parasympathetic nervous system calms the body back down to its normal state.
Any time either of these systems is triggered, they stimulate the total body, which has an "all or nothing" effect. Thus, when a panic attack occurs, the person often experiences multiple different symptoms all through the body.
The sympathetic system tells the body to release adrenaline from the adrenal glands on the kidneys. Adrenaline functions as the body's chemical messengers to keep the activity going. When a panic attack starts, it does not switch off as effortlessly as it is turned on. There is always a phase of what would seem increased or endless anxiety, as these messengers travel throughout the body.
After a while, it is time for the parasympathetic nervous system to do its job, which is to return the body to routine functioning after the perceived danger is no longer present.
We can will the parasympathetic nervous system into action by utilizing a coping strategy that we have learned, for instance, a relaxation technique. A helpful thing to bring to mind is that this system will be brought into action at some stage whether we will it or not. The body cannot stay in an ever-increasing spiral of anxiety. It reaches a place where it simply must kick in, relaxing the body. This is one of the many built-in mechanisms our bodies have to protect us.
Eventually the sympathetic nervous system will stop, even if you try to keep it going with worrying thoughts, and the parasympathetic nervous system will take over. This is because, in time, it becomes a little smarter than us and realizes that there really is no danger. You can be certain that your body's primary goal is to keep you alive and well.
You will not die from a panic attack, no matter how hard you try to convince yourself otherwise. Your body will override that alarm and search for a state of balance. There has never been a reported event of someone dying from a panic attack.
It may help to remember this the next time you have a panic attack; the causes of panic attacks cannot do you any real harm. Your mind possibly will make the sensations last longer than the body intended, but eventually everything will return to a state of balance.
The interference for your body that is caused by a panic attack is nothing more than the sensations of doing strenuous exercise. Our body is not distressed by these symptoms because it knows its own capability but our mind panics and overreacts. Most of us have a tendency to always think the worst and magnify our own sensations. A racing heartbeat becomes a heart attack. An excessively active mind makes us think we're on the verge of a breakdown. The correct information will go a long way in overcoming panic attacks.
To learn how to eliminate anxiety and panic attacks for good, go to LoseYourAnxietyFast.com.
Read more!
Saturday, August 15, 2009
The Three Pillars of Weight Loss Success
When it comes to effective weight loss, every little bit counts, and that includes a proper nutrition program, a good workout program and lifestyle change. If you really want to transform your body and prevent or even reverse diseases associated with obesity, you need these three pillars:
1. Nutrition:
There are three devastating nutrition realities:
Nutrition Reality #1: You can't out-train a bad diet. You can work out 2 hours a day and still get fat. Even if you resorted to a body builder's diet of chicken, broccoli and brown rice 6 times a day, you can still get fat by eating too much of it. The excess has to get stored somewhere - in your belly. It doesn't matter how "healthy" you eat if you consume too much of it.
Nutrition Reality #2: Diet is 90% of the equation. You can cancel out 2 days worth of working out with 3 minutes of consuming a donut and washing it down with a glass of chocolate milk.
Nutrition Reality #3: "Eating healthy" without a plan is guaranteed failure. You can eat healthy foods but how do you know if you've eaten too much or too little? What do you do when you jump on the scale at the end of the week and nothing has changed? How can you monitor and modify your nutrition program if you're just guessing and hoping what you're doing is working? How do you know how much food to buy?
Most people who try to lose weight fail because 99% of the diet programs out there aren't realistic or practical. You need a simple nutritional plan you can implement immediately, complete with the correct foundational nutritional principles. It's critical to start now and continue until you have developed the habits necessary to see results so that you stay motivated and finally perfect your body and health.
2. Exercise:
We all know that exercise is essential for good health, not only for weight loss because it burns calories and reduces body fat but it also helps strengthen your bones, increases circulation, lowers blood pressure and blood sugar, lowers bad cholesterol and raises good cholesterol, helps detoxify your body, strengthens your immune system and decreases depression by increasing serotonin in your brain, which, in turn, controls your appetite and mood. There are probably dozens of forms of exercise, including:
If you do something you enjoy, then exercising won't feel like work and you will be more likely to stick to it. The key is making it become a habit so that it's done on a regular basis.
3. Lifestyle change:
If you want to lose weight and keep it off forever, a lifestyle change is necessary. This happens by developing good nutrition and exercise habits you can live with that aren't too restrictive, burdensome, difficult or expensive, habits that you actually enjoy and are easy to develop and stick to.
Losing weight can be challenging, confusing and emotionally consuming -- unless you have a plan. If you have a plan that is designed specifically for you, with clear instructions on what to eat, when to eat, how much to eat and what to do when you "cheat" or your weight loss comes to a standstill and you follow that plan and incorporate some exercise, then your weight loss is guaranteed to happen, and once you have developed the habits necessary to see results, you will stay motivated and will be on your way to literally transforming your body and preventing or reversing any or all of the diseases associated with obesity.
For more information on guaranteed weight loss success and to get 2 free sample plans, go to http://LoseStubbornFatFast.com.
Read more!
1. Nutrition:
There are three devastating nutrition realities:
Nutrition Reality #1: You can't out-train a bad diet. You can work out 2 hours a day and still get fat. Even if you resorted to a body builder's diet of chicken, broccoli and brown rice 6 times a day, you can still get fat by eating too much of it. The excess has to get stored somewhere - in your belly. It doesn't matter how "healthy" you eat if you consume too much of it.
Nutrition Reality #2: Diet is 90% of the equation. You can cancel out 2 days worth of working out with 3 minutes of consuming a donut and washing it down with a glass of chocolate milk.
Nutrition Reality #3: "Eating healthy" without a plan is guaranteed failure. You can eat healthy foods but how do you know if you've eaten too much or too little? What do you do when you jump on the scale at the end of the week and nothing has changed? How can you monitor and modify your nutrition program if you're just guessing and hoping what you're doing is working? How do you know how much food to buy?
Most people who try to lose weight fail because 99% of the diet programs out there aren't realistic or practical. You need a simple nutritional plan you can implement immediately, complete with the correct foundational nutritional principles. It's critical to start now and continue until you have developed the habits necessary to see results so that you stay motivated and finally perfect your body and health.
2. Exercise:
We all know that exercise is essential for good health, not only for weight loss because it burns calories and reduces body fat but it also helps strengthen your bones, increases circulation, lowers blood pressure and blood sugar, lowers bad cholesterol and raises good cholesterol, helps detoxify your body, strengthens your immune system and decreases depression by increasing serotonin in your brain, which, in turn, controls your appetite and mood. There are probably dozens of forms of exercise, including:
- walking outside or on a treadmill
- jogging
- dancing
- aerobics
- swimming
- water aerobics
- rebounding (jumping on a mini-trampoline)
- bicycling
- hiking
- golf
- tennis
- racquetball
- working out in a gym or fitness center
- ice-skating
- roller-skating
- gardening
- raking leaves
- jumping rope
- weight or resistance training exercise
If you do something you enjoy, then exercising won't feel like work and you will be more likely to stick to it. The key is making it become a habit so that it's done on a regular basis.
3. Lifestyle change:
If you want to lose weight and keep it off forever, a lifestyle change is necessary. This happens by developing good nutrition and exercise habits you can live with that aren't too restrictive, burdensome, difficult or expensive, habits that you actually enjoy and are easy to develop and stick to.
Losing weight can be challenging, confusing and emotionally consuming -- unless you have a plan. If you have a plan that is designed specifically for you, with clear instructions on what to eat, when to eat, how much to eat and what to do when you "cheat" or your weight loss comes to a standstill and you follow that plan and incorporate some exercise, then your weight loss is guaranteed to happen, and once you have developed the habits necessary to see results, you will stay motivated and will be on your way to literally transforming your body and preventing or reversing any or all of the diseases associated with obesity.
For more information on guaranteed weight loss success and to get 2 free sample plans, go to http://LoseStubbornFatFast.com.
Read more!
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Can Weight Loss Really Reverse The Diseases Associated with Obesity?
According to Dr. Toby Cosgrove, CEO of the Cleveland Clinic, who appeared on Fox News' On the Record, "It costs twice as much a year for health care for somebody who's obese than it does for somebody who's normal weight. It decreases the productivity of people, and it accounts for essentially 20 years of aging. In other words, if you're 40 years old and obese, it's equivalent to being 60 years old as far as health is concerned." Dr. Cosgrove went on to say that smoking, obesity and lack of activity are the causes of 70% of the chronic diseases and 40% of premature deaths in the U.S. and that 9% of the cost of health care comes from obesity.
Obesity is determined by the body mass index or BMI. There are BMI calculators online that will give you your body mass index instantly after entering your height and weight. The BMI categories are as follows:
Dr. Cosgrove, CEO of the Cleveland Clinic, also had this to say, "You're 20 times more likely to have diabetes if you're obese. You're twice the incidence of heart disease, twice the incidence of cancer. I mean, it just goes right up. And some people think that it is worth $50 a pound for how much you lose in the cost of health care."
How do we get fat? By being less active and eating more food, particularly more of the wrong foods or eating at the wrong times.
Dr. Cosgrove stated that it's not too late to reverse disease by losing weight, called disease reversal, and that high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol can all be reversed with weight loss. According to him, the Cleveland Clinic employees (6000 of them) have lost a collective total of 90,000 pounds over the last six months with diet, exercise and lifestyle change!
Here are just some of the diseases that can come from obesity and can, therefore, be reversed or prevented with weight loss:
Why is it so hard to achieve weight loss? It has to be a lifestyle change. When it comes to effective weight loss every little bit counts, and that includes a proper nutrition program, a good workout program and some extra help with supplements.
Losing weight can be challenging, confusing and emotionally consuming -- unless you have a plan. If you have a plan that is designed specifically for you, with clear instructions on what to eat, when to eat, how much to eat and what to do when you "cheat" or your weight loss comes to a standstill and you follow that plan and incorporate some exercise, then your weight loss is guaranteed to happen and you will be on your way to preventing or reversing any or all of the diseases associated with obesity.
For more information on guaranteed weight loss success and to get 2 free sample plans, go to http://LoseStubbornFatFast.com.
Read more!
Obesity is determined by the body mass index or BMI. There are BMI calculators online that will give you your body mass index instantly after entering your height and weight. The BMI categories are as follows:
- underweight = less than 18.5
- normal weight = 18.5 - 24.9
- overweight = 25 - 29.9
- obese = 30 or greater
Dr. Cosgrove, CEO of the Cleveland Clinic, also had this to say, "You're 20 times more likely to have diabetes if you're obese. You're twice the incidence of heart disease, twice the incidence of cancer. I mean, it just goes right up. And some people think that it is worth $50 a pound for how much you lose in the cost of health care."
How do we get fat? By being less active and eating more food, particularly more of the wrong foods or eating at the wrong times.
Dr. Cosgrove stated that it's not too late to reverse disease by losing weight, called disease reversal, and that high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol can all be reversed with weight loss. According to him, the Cleveland Clinic employees (6000 of them) have lost a collective total of 90,000 pounds over the last six months with diet, exercise and lifestyle change!
Here are just some of the diseases that can come from obesity and can, therefore, be reversed or prevented with weight loss:
- diabetes
- heart disease
- some forms of cancer
- sleep apnea
- back and joint problems
- increased tendency to contract infectious diseases
- high blood pressure
- stroke
Why is it so hard to achieve weight loss? It has to be a lifestyle change. When it comes to effective weight loss every little bit counts, and that includes a proper nutrition program, a good workout program and some extra help with supplements.
Losing weight can be challenging, confusing and emotionally consuming -- unless you have a plan. If you have a plan that is designed specifically for you, with clear instructions on what to eat, when to eat, how much to eat and what to do when you "cheat" or your weight loss comes to a standstill and you follow that plan and incorporate some exercise, then your weight loss is guaranteed to happen and you will be on your way to preventing or reversing any or all of the diseases associated with obesity.
For more information on guaranteed weight loss success and to get 2 free sample plans, go to http://LoseStubbornFatFast.com.
Read more!
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Public Speaking and Panic Attacks
For those of you who have problems with public speaking and panic attacks, this article by Joe Barry might interest you. Here it is . . .
It is often observed that many people’s top ranking fear is not death but having to speak in public. The joke is that these people would rather be lying in the casket at the funeral than giving the eulogy. Public speaking for people who suffer from panic attacks or general anxiety often becomes a major source of worry weeks or even months before the speaking event is to occur.
These speaking engagements do not necessarily have to be the traditional "on a podium" events but can be as simple as an office meeting where the individual is expected to express an opinion or give verbal feedback. The fear of public speaking and panic attacks in this case centers on having an attack while speaking. The individual fears being incapacitated by the anxiety and hence unable to complete what he or she is saying. The person imagines fleeing the spotlight and having to make all kinds of excuses later for their undignified departure out the office window…
This differs slightly from the majority of people who fear public speaking because their fear tends to revolve around going blank while speaking or feeling uncomfortable under the spotlight of their peers. The jitters or nerves of speaking in public are of course a problem for this group as well, but they are unfamiliar with that debilitating threat which is the panic attack, as they most likely have not experienced one before.
So how should a person with an anxiety issue tackle public speaking?
Stage one is accepting that all these bizarre and quite frankly unnerving sensations are not going to go away overnight. In fact, you are not even going to concern yourself with getting rid of them for your next talk. When they arrive during a speech/meeting, you are going to approach them in a new manner. What we need to do is build your confidence back to where it used to be before any of these sensations ever occurred. This time you will approach it in a unique, empowering manner, allowing you to feel your confidence again. It is said that most of the top speakers are riddled with anxiety before speaking, but they somehow use this nervousness to enhance their speech. I am going to show you exactly how to do this, although I know that right now if you suffer from public speaking and panic attacks you may find it difficult to believe you can ever overcome it.
My first point is this and it is important. The average healthy person can experience an extreme array of anxiety and very uncomfortable sensations while giving a speech and is in no danger of ever losing control, or even appearing slightly anxious to the audience. No matter how tough it gets, you will always finish your piece, even if at the outset it feels very uncomfortable to go on. You will not become incapacitated in any way.
The real breakthrough for if you suffer from public speaking and panic attacks happens when you fully believe that you are not in danger and that the sensations will pass.
"I realize you (the anxiety) hold no threat over me.”
What keeps a panic attack coming again and again is the fear of the fear—the fear that the next one will really knock your socks off and you feel you were lucky to have made it past the last one unscathed. As they were so unnerving and scary, it is your confidence that has been damaged by previous anxiety episodes. Once you fully understand you are not under any threat, then you can have a new response to the anxiety as it arises while speaking.
Defeating public speaking and panic attacks...
There is always a turning point when a person moves from general anxiety into a panic attack, and that happens with public speaking when you think to yourself:
"I won't be able to handle this in front of these people."
That split second of self-doubt leads to a rush of adrenaline, and the extreme anxiety arrives in a wave like format. If, however, when you feel the initial anxiety and you react with confidence that this is not a threat to you, you will move out of the anxiety rapidly. Using this new approach is a powerful ally because it means it is okay to feel scared and feel the anxiety when speaking–that is fine; you are going to feel it and move with and through the sensations in your body and out the other side. Because he or she is feeling very anxious, often before the talk has begun, that person may feel they have already let themselves down. Now, you can relax on that point. It is perfectly natural to feel the anxiety. Take for example the worst of the sensations you have ever experienced in this situation—be it general unease to loss of breath. You will have an initial automatic reaction that says:
"Danger–I'm going to have an episode of anxiety here and I really can’t afford that to happen.”
At this point most people react to that idea and confirm it must be true because of all of the unusual feelings they are experiencing. This is where your thinking can lead you down a train of thought that creates a cycle of anxiety that produces a negative impact on your overall presenting skills.
So let that initial “oh dear, not now” thought pass by, and follow it up immediately with the attitude of:
"There you are–I've been wondering when you would arrive. I’ve been expecting you to show up—by the way, I am not in the least threatened by any of the strange sensations you are creating—I am completely safe here.”
The key to controlling your fear of public speaking and panic attacks is that instead of pushing the emotional energy and excitement down into your stomach, you are moving out through it. Your body is in a slightly excited state, exactly as it should be while giving a speech, so release that energy in your self-expression. Push it out through your presentation not down into your stomach. You push it out by expressing yourself more forcefully. In this way you turn the anxiety to your advantage by using it to deliver a speech where you come across more alive, energetic and in the present moment. When you notice the anxiety drop as it does when you willingly move into it. Fire a quick thought off when you get a momentary break (as I am sure you have between pieces), asking it for “more.” You want more of its intense feelings as you are interested in them and are absolutely not threatened by them.
It seems like a lot of things to be thinking about while talking to a group of people, but it is not really. You’d be amazed how many different non-related thoughts you can have while speaking. This approach is about adopting a new attitude of confidence to what you might have deemed a serious threat up until now. This tactic will truly help you with fear of public speaking and panic attacks you have associated with them.
If your predominant fear of the speaking engagement is driven by a feeling of being trapped, then I would suggest factoring in some mental releases that can be prepared before the event. For example, some meetings/speeches allow for you to turn the attention back to the room to get feedback etc. from the group.
If possible, you might want to prepare such opportunities in your own mind before the engagements. This is not to say you have to ever use them, but people in this situation often remark that just having small opportunities where attention can be diverted for the briefest of moments can make the task seem less daunting. It my even be something as simple as having people introduce themselves or opening the floor to questions. I realize these diversions are not always possible and depend on the situation, but anything you can factor in that makes you feel less trapped or under the spotlight is worth the effort and can help alleviate fear of public speaking and panic attacks.
Learn more
http://loseyouranxietyfast.com/
Joe Barry is an international panic disorder coach. His informative site on all issues related to panic and anxiety attacks can be found here: http://loseyouranxietyfast.com
This article is copywritten material
Read more!
It is often observed that many people’s top ranking fear is not death but having to speak in public. The joke is that these people would rather be lying in the casket at the funeral than giving the eulogy. Public speaking for people who suffer from panic attacks or general anxiety often becomes a major source of worry weeks or even months before the speaking event is to occur.
These speaking engagements do not necessarily have to be the traditional "on a podium" events but can be as simple as an office meeting where the individual is expected to express an opinion or give verbal feedback. The fear of public speaking and panic attacks in this case centers on having an attack while speaking. The individual fears being incapacitated by the anxiety and hence unable to complete what he or she is saying. The person imagines fleeing the spotlight and having to make all kinds of excuses later for their undignified departure out the office window…
This differs slightly from the majority of people who fear public speaking because their fear tends to revolve around going blank while speaking or feeling uncomfortable under the spotlight of their peers. The jitters or nerves of speaking in public are of course a problem for this group as well, but they are unfamiliar with that debilitating threat which is the panic attack, as they most likely have not experienced one before.
So how should a person with an anxiety issue tackle public speaking?
Stage one is accepting that all these bizarre and quite frankly unnerving sensations are not going to go away overnight. In fact, you are not even going to concern yourself with getting rid of them for your next talk. When they arrive during a speech/meeting, you are going to approach them in a new manner. What we need to do is build your confidence back to where it used to be before any of these sensations ever occurred. This time you will approach it in a unique, empowering manner, allowing you to feel your confidence again. It is said that most of the top speakers are riddled with anxiety before speaking, but they somehow use this nervousness to enhance their speech. I am going to show you exactly how to do this, although I know that right now if you suffer from public speaking and panic attacks you may find it difficult to believe you can ever overcome it.
My first point is this and it is important. The average healthy person can experience an extreme array of anxiety and very uncomfortable sensations while giving a speech and is in no danger of ever losing control, or even appearing slightly anxious to the audience. No matter how tough it gets, you will always finish your piece, even if at the outset it feels very uncomfortable to go on. You will not become incapacitated in any way.
The real breakthrough for if you suffer from public speaking and panic attacks happens when you fully believe that you are not in danger and that the sensations will pass.
"I realize you (the anxiety) hold no threat over me.”
What keeps a panic attack coming again and again is the fear of the fear—the fear that the next one will really knock your socks off and you feel you were lucky to have made it past the last one unscathed. As they were so unnerving and scary, it is your confidence that has been damaged by previous anxiety episodes. Once you fully understand you are not under any threat, then you can have a new response to the anxiety as it arises while speaking.
Defeating public speaking and panic attacks...
There is always a turning point when a person moves from general anxiety into a panic attack, and that happens with public speaking when you think to yourself:
"I won't be able to handle this in front of these people."
That split second of self-doubt leads to a rush of adrenaline, and the extreme anxiety arrives in a wave like format. If, however, when you feel the initial anxiety and you react with confidence that this is not a threat to you, you will move out of the anxiety rapidly. Using this new approach is a powerful ally because it means it is okay to feel scared and feel the anxiety when speaking–that is fine; you are going to feel it and move with and through the sensations in your body and out the other side. Because he or she is feeling very anxious, often before the talk has begun, that person may feel they have already let themselves down. Now, you can relax on that point. It is perfectly natural to feel the anxiety. Take for example the worst of the sensations you have ever experienced in this situation—be it general unease to loss of breath. You will have an initial automatic reaction that says:
"Danger–I'm going to have an episode of anxiety here and I really can’t afford that to happen.”
At this point most people react to that idea and confirm it must be true because of all of the unusual feelings they are experiencing. This is where your thinking can lead you down a train of thought that creates a cycle of anxiety that produces a negative impact on your overall presenting skills.
So let that initial “oh dear, not now” thought pass by, and follow it up immediately with the attitude of:
"There you are–I've been wondering when you would arrive. I’ve been expecting you to show up—by the way, I am not in the least threatened by any of the strange sensations you are creating—I am completely safe here.”
The key to controlling your fear of public speaking and panic attacks is that instead of pushing the emotional energy and excitement down into your stomach, you are moving out through it. Your body is in a slightly excited state, exactly as it should be while giving a speech, so release that energy in your self-expression. Push it out through your presentation not down into your stomach. You push it out by expressing yourself more forcefully. In this way you turn the anxiety to your advantage by using it to deliver a speech where you come across more alive, energetic and in the present moment. When you notice the anxiety drop as it does when you willingly move into it. Fire a quick thought off when you get a momentary break (as I am sure you have between pieces), asking it for “more.” You want more of its intense feelings as you are interested in them and are absolutely not threatened by them.
It seems like a lot of things to be thinking about while talking to a group of people, but it is not really. You’d be amazed how many different non-related thoughts you can have while speaking. This approach is about adopting a new attitude of confidence to what you might have deemed a serious threat up until now. This tactic will truly help you with fear of public speaking and panic attacks you have associated with them.
If your predominant fear of the speaking engagement is driven by a feeling of being trapped, then I would suggest factoring in some mental releases that can be prepared before the event. For example, some meetings/speeches allow for you to turn the attention back to the room to get feedback etc. from the group.
If possible, you might want to prepare such opportunities in your own mind before the engagements. This is not to say you have to ever use them, but people in this situation often remark that just having small opportunities where attention can be diverted for the briefest of moments can make the task seem less daunting. It my even be something as simple as having people introduce themselves or opening the floor to questions. I realize these diversions are not always possible and depend on the situation, but anything you can factor in that makes you feel less trapped or under the spotlight is worth the effort and can help alleviate fear of public speaking and panic attacks.
Learn more
http://loseyouranxietyfast.com/
Joe Barry is an international panic disorder coach. His informative site on all issues related to panic and anxiety attacks can be found here: http://loseyouranxietyfast.com
This article is copywritten material
Read more!
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Agoraphobia and Panic Attacks
For those of you who have problems with the phobia that is linked to panic attacks, this article by Joe Barry may be of interest to you. Here it is . . .
There is phobia that is linked to the experience of panic attacks, and that is agoraphobia. Agoraphobia is the fear of open spaces or of being in crowded, public places such as shopping markets. It is a fear associated with leaving a safe zone, such as the home.
Because of a feeling of being vulnerable, people who experience this fear often suffer from panic attacks in these “open” situations. It is true to say many people who have regular panic attacks experience different degrees of agoraphobia. Some have a lingering background anxiety about being away from home should they experience a panic attack. Other people are so immobilized by this fear that they find it very difficult to leave their home for even a short period.
The thinking behind agoraphobia usually follows the line that were a panic attack to occur, who would look after the person, how would he or she get the assistance and reassurance they needed? The vulnerability grows from the feeling that once victims of agoraphobia are caught in the anxiety, they are suddenly unable to look after themselves and are therefore at the mercy of the place they find themselves in and the strangers around them. In its extreme form, agoraphobia and panic attacks can lead to a situation where people become housebound for numerous years. Please note, this is by no means a hopeless situation, and I always need to reinforce the fact that something only becomes hopeless once the person really believes that to be the case.
To begin with, the primary issue that needs to be addressed is the belief in the safe zone. To clarify, when I talk about safe zone, I am referring to the zone where the person believes panic attacks do not occur, or at least occur infrequently. As comfort is found there, it is where the person tends to spend more and more time. The safe zone of anxiety is a myth sustained by the mind. The mind has developed a habit of thinking that dictates that being inside the safe zone is the only place to feel secure and avoid agoraphobia and panic attacks. If agoraphobia is an issue for you, watch as your mind comes up with reasons why it believes only a certain area is safe and another is not. Those reasons range from being near the phone or people you trust to having familiar physical surroundings to reassure you.
The reality of anxiety is that there is no such thing as a safe zone. There is nothing life threatening about a panic attack, and therefore sitting at home is the same as sitting under the stars on a desert island. Of course, your mind will immediately rush to tell you that a desert island is a ridiculous place to be as there are no hospitals, no tranquillisers, no doctors, NO SAFETY.
You need to review your previous experiences of panic attacks. Aren’t you still here, alive and well, after all those attacks during which you were convinced you were going to die?
It may be that on occasions you have been driven to the hospital where they did medicate you to calm you down, but do you really believe that you would not have survived were it not for the drugs? You would have. If the same bout of anxiety had occurred on this desert island, it too would have passed, even if you were all alone. Yes, when it comes to conditions that need medical attention such as asthma, diabetes, and a whole litany or other conditions, then having medical aid nearby is a big asset, but no doctor in the world would tell someone with anxiety that there are only specific safe zones in which she or he can move.
As I know more than anyone how terrifying it can feel to move out of your safe zone as the feeling of fear is welling up inside, I do not wish to sound harsh. This course is not about chastising people for their behaviours. It is a way of looking together at solutions and seeing through the myths that form prison walls. The goal is to enable you to return to a richer and more meaningful life and ultimately defeat your agoraphobia and panic attacks. I also realize that people around you cannot understand why a trip to shops would cause you such discomfort. You will have to forgive them and try not to be upset by their lack of understanding of your problem.
If an individual such as a partner or family member has not had a similar anxiety issue, that person may often find it hard to understand and empathize with what you are going through. I am sure you have been dragged out of the house numerous times against your will, kicking and screaming. This can then lead to tensions and arguments and is upsetting as it can make you feel less understood by those around you. People around agoraphobics are often simply trying what they feel is best. If you can see that their intentions are well meaning (although often misguided), then you will be able to relate to them better and help sooth any potential conflicts.
There is one thing I am sure you will agree with, and that is that the only person who will get you out of agoraphobic thinking is yourself. These are your thoughts, and only you can begin to change that pattern. Dealing with long term agoraphobia and panic attacks is a slow process to begin with, but once the results start happening, it moves faster and faster until you reach a point where you will find it hard to believe that going out was such a difficult task.
Learn more
http://loseyouranxietyfast.com/
Joe Barry is an international panic disorder coach. His informative site on all issues related to panic and anxiety attacks can be found here: http://loseyouranxietyfast.com
This article is copywritten material
Read more!
There is phobia that is linked to the experience of panic attacks, and that is agoraphobia. Agoraphobia is the fear of open spaces or of being in crowded, public places such as shopping markets. It is a fear associated with leaving a safe zone, such as the home.
Because of a feeling of being vulnerable, people who experience this fear often suffer from panic attacks in these “open” situations. It is true to say many people who have regular panic attacks experience different degrees of agoraphobia. Some have a lingering background anxiety about being away from home should they experience a panic attack. Other people are so immobilized by this fear that they find it very difficult to leave their home for even a short period.
The thinking behind agoraphobia usually follows the line that were a panic attack to occur, who would look after the person, how would he or she get the assistance and reassurance they needed? The vulnerability grows from the feeling that once victims of agoraphobia are caught in the anxiety, they are suddenly unable to look after themselves and are therefore at the mercy of the place they find themselves in and the strangers around them. In its extreme form, agoraphobia and panic attacks can lead to a situation where people become housebound for numerous years. Please note, this is by no means a hopeless situation, and I always need to reinforce the fact that something only becomes hopeless once the person really believes that to be the case.
To begin with, the primary issue that needs to be addressed is the belief in the safe zone. To clarify, when I talk about safe zone, I am referring to the zone where the person believes panic attacks do not occur, or at least occur infrequently. As comfort is found there, it is where the person tends to spend more and more time. The safe zone of anxiety is a myth sustained by the mind. The mind has developed a habit of thinking that dictates that being inside the safe zone is the only place to feel secure and avoid agoraphobia and panic attacks. If agoraphobia is an issue for you, watch as your mind comes up with reasons why it believes only a certain area is safe and another is not. Those reasons range from being near the phone or people you trust to having familiar physical surroundings to reassure you.
The reality of anxiety is that there is no such thing as a safe zone. There is nothing life threatening about a panic attack, and therefore sitting at home is the same as sitting under the stars on a desert island. Of course, your mind will immediately rush to tell you that a desert island is a ridiculous place to be as there are no hospitals, no tranquillisers, no doctors, NO SAFETY.
You need to review your previous experiences of panic attacks. Aren’t you still here, alive and well, after all those attacks during which you were convinced you were going to die?
It may be that on occasions you have been driven to the hospital where they did medicate you to calm you down, but do you really believe that you would not have survived were it not for the drugs? You would have. If the same bout of anxiety had occurred on this desert island, it too would have passed, even if you were all alone. Yes, when it comes to conditions that need medical attention such as asthma, diabetes, and a whole litany or other conditions, then having medical aid nearby is a big asset, but no doctor in the world would tell someone with anxiety that there are only specific safe zones in which she or he can move.
As I know more than anyone how terrifying it can feel to move out of your safe zone as the feeling of fear is welling up inside, I do not wish to sound harsh. This course is not about chastising people for their behaviours. It is a way of looking together at solutions and seeing through the myths that form prison walls. The goal is to enable you to return to a richer and more meaningful life and ultimately defeat your agoraphobia and panic attacks. I also realize that people around you cannot understand why a trip to shops would cause you such discomfort. You will have to forgive them and try not to be upset by their lack of understanding of your problem.
If an individual such as a partner or family member has not had a similar anxiety issue, that person may often find it hard to understand and empathize with what you are going through. I am sure you have been dragged out of the house numerous times against your will, kicking and screaming. This can then lead to tensions and arguments and is upsetting as it can make you feel less understood by those around you. People around agoraphobics are often simply trying what they feel is best. If you can see that their intentions are well meaning (although often misguided), then you will be able to relate to them better and help sooth any potential conflicts.
There is one thing I am sure you will agree with, and that is that the only person who will get you out of agoraphobic thinking is yourself. These are your thoughts, and only you can begin to change that pattern. Dealing with long term agoraphobia and panic attacks is a slow process to begin with, but once the results start happening, it moves faster and faster until you reach a point where you will find it hard to believe that going out was such a difficult task.
Learn more
http://loseyouranxietyfast.com/
Joe Barry is an international panic disorder coach. His informative site on all issues related to panic and anxiety attacks can be found here: http://loseyouranxietyfast.com
This article is copywritten material
Read more!
Monday, July 6, 2009
Causes of Panic Attacks
For those of you who have problems with panic attacks, you may be interested in this other article I found by Joe Barry. Here it is . . .
The short and obvious answer: panic attacks are caused by high anxiety. But, what exactly is anxiety? Understanding how anxiety crops up will help you defeat panic attacks.
One of the biggest myths surrounding anxiety is that it is harmful and can lead to a number of various life-threatening conditions.
Definition of Anxiety
Anxiety is defined as a state of apprehension or fear resulting from the anticipation of a real or imagined threat, event, or situation. It is one of the most common human emotions experienced by people at some point in their lives.
However, most people who have never experienced a panic attack, or extreme anxiety, fail to realize the terrifying nature of the experience. Extreme dizziness, blurred vision, tingling and feelings of breathlessness—and that’s just the tip of the iceberg!
When these sensations occur and people do not understand why, they feel they have contracted an illness, or a serious mental condition. The threat of losing complete control seems very real and naturally very terrifying.
Fight/Flight Response: One of the root causes of panic attacks?
I am sure most of you have heard of the fight/flight response as an explanation for one of the root causes of panic attacks. Have you made the connection between this response and the unusual sensations you experience during and after a panic attack episode?
Anxiety is a response to a danger or threat. It is so named because all of its effects are aimed toward either fighting or fleeing from the danger. Thus, the sole purpose of anxiety is to protect the individual from harm. This may seem ironic given that you no doubt feel your anxiety is actually causing you great harm...perhaps the most significant of all the causes of panic attacks.
However, the anxiety that the fight/flight response created was vital in the daily survival of our ancient ancestors—when faced with some danger, an automatic response would take over that propelled them to take immediate action such as attack or run. Even in today's hectic world, this is still a necessary mechanism. It comes in useful when you must respond to a real threat within a split second.
Anxiety is a built-in mechanism to protect us from danger. Interestingly, it is a mechanism that protects but does not harm—an important point that will be elaborated upon later.
The Physical Manifestations of a Panic Attack: Other pieces of the puzzle to understand the causes of panic attacks. Nervousness and Chemical Effects...
When confronted with danger, the brain sends signals to a section of the nervous system. It is this system that is responsible for gearing the body up for action and also calms the body down and restores equilibrium. To carry out these two vital functions, the autonomic nervous system has two subsections, the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system.
Although I don't want to become too "scientific," having a basic understanding of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system will help you understand the causes of panic attacks.
The sympathetic nervous system is the one we tend to know all too much about because it primes our body for action, readies us for the “fight or flight” response, while the parasympathetic nervous system is the one we love dearly as it serves as our restoring system, which returns the body to its normal state.
When either of these systems is activated, they stimulate the whole body, which has an “all or nothing” effect. This explains why when a panic attack occurs, the individual often feels a number of different sensations throughout the body.
The sympathetic system is responsible for releasing the adrenaline from the adrenal glands on the kidneys. These are small glands located just above the kidneys. Less known, however, is that the adrenal glands also release adrenaline, which functions as the body’s chemical messengers to keep the activity going. When a panic attack begins, it does not switch off as easily as it is turned on. There is always a period of what would seem increased or continued anxiety, as these messengers travel throughout the body. Think of them as one of the physiological causes of panic attacks, if you will.
After a period of time, the parasympathetic nervous system gets called into action. Its role is to return the body to normal functioning once the perceived danger is gone. The parasympathetic system is the system we all know and love, because it returns us to a calm relaxed state.
When we engage in a coping strategy that we have learned, for example, a relaxation technique, we are in fact willing the parasympathetic nervous system into action. A good thing to remember is that this system will be brought into action at some stage whether we will it or not. The body cannot continue in an ever-increasing spiral of anxiety. It reaches a point where it simply must kick in, relaxing the body. This is one of the many built-in protection systems our bodies have for survival.
You can do your best with worrying thoughts, keeping the sympathetic nervous system going, but eventually it stops. In time, it becomes a little smarter than us, and realizes that there really is no danger. Our bodies are incredibly intelligent—modern science is always discovering amazing patterns of intelligence that run throughout the cells of our body. Our body seems to have infinite ways of dealing with the most complicated array of functions we take for granted. Rest assured that your body’s primary goal is to keep you alive and well.
Not so convinced?
Try holding your breath for as long as you can. No matter how strong your mental will is, it can never override the will of the body. This is good news—no matter how hard you try to convince yourself that you are gong to die from a panic attack, you won’t. Your body will override that fear and search for a state of balance. There has never been a reported incident of someone dying from a panic attack.
Remember this next time you have a panic attack; he causes of panic attacks cannot do you any physical harm. Your mind may make the sensations continue longer than the body intended, but eventually everything will return to a state of balance. In fact, balance (homeostasis) is what our body continually strives for.
The interference for your body is nothing more than the sensations of doing rigorous exercise. Our body is not alarmed by these symptoms. Why should it be? It knows its own capability. It’s our thinking minds that panic, which overreact and scream in sheer terror! We tend to fear the worst and exaggerate our own sensations. A quickened heart beat becomes a heart attack. An overactive mind seems like a close shave with schizophrenia. Is it our fault? Not really—we are simply diagnosing from poor information.
Cardiovascular Effects Activity in the sympathetic nervous system increases our heartbeat rate, speeds up the blood flow throughout the body, ensures all areas are well supplied with oxygen and that waste products are removed. This happens in order to prime the body for action.
A fascinating feature of the “fight or flight” mechanism is that blood (which is channelled from areas where it is currently not needed by a tightening of the blood vessels) is brought to areas where it is urgently needed.
For example, should there be a physical attack, blood drains from the skin, fingers, and toes so that less blood is lost, and is moved to “active areas” such as the thighs and biceps to help the body prepare for action.
This is why many feel numbness and tingling during a panic attack-often misinterpreted as some serious health risk-such as the precursor to a heart attack. Interestingly, most people who suffer from anxiety often feel they have heart problems. If you are really worried that such is the case with your situation, visit your doctor and have it checked out. At least then you can put your mind at rest.
Respiratory Effects
One of the scariest effects of a panic attack is the fear of suffocating or smothering. It is very common during a panic attack to feel tightness in the chest and throat. I’m sure everyone can relate to some fear of losing control of your breathing. From personal experience, anxiety grows from the fear that your breathing itself would cease and you would be unable to recover. Can a panic attack stop our breathing? No.
A panic attack is associated with an increase in the speed and depth of breathing. This has obvious importance for the defense of the body since the tissues need to get more oxygen to prepare for action. The feelings produced by this increase in breathing, however, can include breathlessness, hyperventilation, sensations of choking or smothering, and even pains or tightness in the chest. The real problem is that these sensations are alien to us, and they feel unnatural.
Having experienced extreme panic attacks myself, I remember that on many occasions, I would have this feeling that I couldn’t trust my body to do the breathing for me, so I would have to manually take over and tell myself when to breathe in and when to breathe out. Of course, this didn’t suit my body’s requirement of oxygen and so the sensations would intensify—along with the anxiety. It was only when I employed the technique I will describe for you later, did I let the body continue doing what it does best—running the whole show.
Importantly, a side-effect of increased breathing, (especially if no actual activity occurs) is that the blood supply to the head is actually decreased. While such a decrease is only a small amount and is not at all dangerous, it produces a variety of unpleasant but harmless symptoms that include dizziness, blurred vision, confusion, sense of unreality, and hot flushes.
Other Physical Effects of Panic Attacks:
Now that we've discussed some of the primary physiological causes of panic attacks, there are a number of other effects that are produced by the activation of the sympathetic nervous system, none of which are in any way harmful.
For example, the pupils widen to let in more light, which may result in blurred vision, or “seeing” stars, etc. There is a decrease in salivation, resulting in dry mouth. There is decreased activity in the digestive system, which often produces nausea, a heavy feeling in the stomach, and even constipation. Finally, many of the muscle groups tense up in preparation for “fight or flight” and this results in subjective feelings of tension, sometimes extending to actual aches and pains, as well as trembling and shaking.
Overall, the fight/flight response results in a general activation of the whole bodily metabolism. Thus, one often feels hot and flushed and, because this process takes a lot of energy, the person generally feels tired and drained.
Mental Manifestations: Are the causes of panic attacks all in my head? is a question many people wonder to themselves.
The goal of the fight/flight response is making the individual aware of the potential danger that may be present. Therefore, when activated, the mental priority is placed upon searching the surroundings for potential threats. In this state one is highly-strung, so to speak. It is very difficult to concentrate on any one activity, as the mind has been trained to seek all potential threats and not to give up until the threat has been identified. As soon as the panic hits, many people look for the quick and easiest exit from their current surroundings, such as by simply leaving the bank queue and walking outside. Sometimes the anxiety can heighten, if we perceive that leaving will cause some sort of social embarrassment.
If you have a panic attack while at the workplace but feel you must press on with whatever task it is you are doing, it is quite understandable that you would find it very hard to concentrate. It is quite common to become agitated and generally restless in such a situation. Many individuals I have worked with who have suffered from panic attacks over the years indicated that artificial light—such as that which comes from computer monitors and televisions screens—can can be one of the causes of panic attacks by triggering them or worsen a panic attack, particularly if the person is feeling tired or run down.
This is worth bearing in mind if you work for long periods of time on a computer. Regular break reminders should be set up on your computer to remind you to get up from the desk and get some fresh air when possible.
In other situations, when during a panic attack an outside threat cannot normally be found, the mind turns inwards and begins to contemplate the possible illness the body or mind could be suffering from. This ranges from thinking it might have been something you ate at lunch, to the possibility of an oncoming cardiac arrest.
The burning question is: Why is the fight/flight response activated during a panic attack even when there is apparently nothing to be frightened of?
Upon closer examination of the causes of panic attacks, it would appear that what we are afraid of are the sensations themselves—we are afraid of the body losing control. These unexpected physical symptoms create the fear or panic that something is terribly wrong. Why do you experience the physical symptoms of the fight/flight response if you are not frightened to begin with? There are many ways these symptoms can manifest themselves, not just through fear.
For example, it may be that you have become generally stressed for some reason in your life, and this stress results in an increase in the production of adrenaline and other chemicals, which from time to time, would produce symptoms....and which you perceive as the causes of panic attacks.
This increased adrenaline can be maintained chemically in the body, even after the stress has long gone. Another possibility is diet, which directly affects our level of stress. Excess caffeine, alcohol, or sugar is known for causing stress in the body, and is believed to be one of the contributing factors of the causes of panic attacks (Chapter 5 gives a full discussion on diet and its importance).
Unresolved emotions are often pointed to as possible trigger of panic attacks, but it is important to point out that eliminating panic attacks from your life does not necessarily mean analyzing your psyche and digging into your subconscious. The “One Move” technique will teach you to deal with the present moment and defuse the attack along with removing the underlying anxiety that sparks the initial anxiety.
Learn more
http://loseyouranxietyfast.com/
Joe Barry is an international panic disorder coach. His informative site on all issues related to panic and anxiety attacks can be found here: http://loseyouranxietyfast.com/
This article is copywritten material
Read more!
The short and obvious answer: panic attacks are caused by high anxiety. But, what exactly is anxiety? Understanding how anxiety crops up will help you defeat panic attacks.
One of the biggest myths surrounding anxiety is that it is harmful and can lead to a number of various life-threatening conditions.
Definition of Anxiety
Anxiety is defined as a state of apprehension or fear resulting from the anticipation of a real or imagined threat, event, or situation. It is one of the most common human emotions experienced by people at some point in their lives.
However, most people who have never experienced a panic attack, or extreme anxiety, fail to realize the terrifying nature of the experience. Extreme dizziness, blurred vision, tingling and feelings of breathlessness—and that’s just the tip of the iceberg!
When these sensations occur and people do not understand why, they feel they have contracted an illness, or a serious mental condition. The threat of losing complete control seems very real and naturally very terrifying.
Fight/Flight Response: One of the root causes of panic attacks?
I am sure most of you have heard of the fight/flight response as an explanation for one of the root causes of panic attacks. Have you made the connection between this response and the unusual sensations you experience during and after a panic attack episode?
Anxiety is a response to a danger or threat. It is so named because all of its effects are aimed toward either fighting or fleeing from the danger. Thus, the sole purpose of anxiety is to protect the individual from harm. This may seem ironic given that you no doubt feel your anxiety is actually causing you great harm...perhaps the most significant of all the causes of panic attacks.
However, the anxiety that the fight/flight response created was vital in the daily survival of our ancient ancestors—when faced with some danger, an automatic response would take over that propelled them to take immediate action such as attack or run. Even in today's hectic world, this is still a necessary mechanism. It comes in useful when you must respond to a real threat within a split second.
Anxiety is a built-in mechanism to protect us from danger. Interestingly, it is a mechanism that protects but does not harm—an important point that will be elaborated upon later.
The Physical Manifestations of a Panic Attack: Other pieces of the puzzle to understand the causes of panic attacks. Nervousness and Chemical Effects...
When confronted with danger, the brain sends signals to a section of the nervous system. It is this system that is responsible for gearing the body up for action and also calms the body down and restores equilibrium. To carry out these two vital functions, the autonomic nervous system has two subsections, the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system.
Although I don't want to become too "scientific," having a basic understanding of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system will help you understand the causes of panic attacks.
The sympathetic nervous system is the one we tend to know all too much about because it primes our body for action, readies us for the “fight or flight” response, while the parasympathetic nervous system is the one we love dearly as it serves as our restoring system, which returns the body to its normal state.
When either of these systems is activated, they stimulate the whole body, which has an “all or nothing” effect. This explains why when a panic attack occurs, the individual often feels a number of different sensations throughout the body.
The sympathetic system is responsible for releasing the adrenaline from the adrenal glands on the kidneys. These are small glands located just above the kidneys. Less known, however, is that the adrenal glands also release adrenaline, which functions as the body’s chemical messengers to keep the activity going. When a panic attack begins, it does not switch off as easily as it is turned on. There is always a period of what would seem increased or continued anxiety, as these messengers travel throughout the body. Think of them as one of the physiological causes of panic attacks, if you will.
After a period of time, the parasympathetic nervous system gets called into action. Its role is to return the body to normal functioning once the perceived danger is gone. The parasympathetic system is the system we all know and love, because it returns us to a calm relaxed state.
When we engage in a coping strategy that we have learned, for example, a relaxation technique, we are in fact willing the parasympathetic nervous system into action. A good thing to remember is that this system will be brought into action at some stage whether we will it or not. The body cannot continue in an ever-increasing spiral of anxiety. It reaches a point where it simply must kick in, relaxing the body. This is one of the many built-in protection systems our bodies have for survival.
You can do your best with worrying thoughts, keeping the sympathetic nervous system going, but eventually it stops. In time, it becomes a little smarter than us, and realizes that there really is no danger. Our bodies are incredibly intelligent—modern science is always discovering amazing patterns of intelligence that run throughout the cells of our body. Our body seems to have infinite ways of dealing with the most complicated array of functions we take for granted. Rest assured that your body’s primary goal is to keep you alive and well.
Not so convinced?
Try holding your breath for as long as you can. No matter how strong your mental will is, it can never override the will of the body. This is good news—no matter how hard you try to convince yourself that you are gong to die from a panic attack, you won’t. Your body will override that fear and search for a state of balance. There has never been a reported incident of someone dying from a panic attack.
Remember this next time you have a panic attack; he causes of panic attacks cannot do you any physical harm. Your mind may make the sensations continue longer than the body intended, but eventually everything will return to a state of balance. In fact, balance (homeostasis) is what our body continually strives for.
The interference for your body is nothing more than the sensations of doing rigorous exercise. Our body is not alarmed by these symptoms. Why should it be? It knows its own capability. It’s our thinking minds that panic, which overreact and scream in sheer terror! We tend to fear the worst and exaggerate our own sensations. A quickened heart beat becomes a heart attack. An overactive mind seems like a close shave with schizophrenia. Is it our fault? Not really—we are simply diagnosing from poor information.
Cardiovascular Effects Activity in the sympathetic nervous system increases our heartbeat rate, speeds up the blood flow throughout the body, ensures all areas are well supplied with oxygen and that waste products are removed. This happens in order to prime the body for action.
A fascinating feature of the “fight or flight” mechanism is that blood (which is channelled from areas where it is currently not needed by a tightening of the blood vessels) is brought to areas where it is urgently needed.
For example, should there be a physical attack, blood drains from the skin, fingers, and toes so that less blood is lost, and is moved to “active areas” such as the thighs and biceps to help the body prepare for action.
This is why many feel numbness and tingling during a panic attack-often misinterpreted as some serious health risk-such as the precursor to a heart attack. Interestingly, most people who suffer from anxiety often feel they have heart problems. If you are really worried that such is the case with your situation, visit your doctor and have it checked out. At least then you can put your mind at rest.
Respiratory Effects
One of the scariest effects of a panic attack is the fear of suffocating or smothering. It is very common during a panic attack to feel tightness in the chest and throat. I’m sure everyone can relate to some fear of losing control of your breathing. From personal experience, anxiety grows from the fear that your breathing itself would cease and you would be unable to recover. Can a panic attack stop our breathing? No.
A panic attack is associated with an increase in the speed and depth of breathing. This has obvious importance for the defense of the body since the tissues need to get more oxygen to prepare for action. The feelings produced by this increase in breathing, however, can include breathlessness, hyperventilation, sensations of choking or smothering, and even pains or tightness in the chest. The real problem is that these sensations are alien to us, and they feel unnatural.
Having experienced extreme panic attacks myself, I remember that on many occasions, I would have this feeling that I couldn’t trust my body to do the breathing for me, so I would have to manually take over and tell myself when to breathe in and when to breathe out. Of course, this didn’t suit my body’s requirement of oxygen and so the sensations would intensify—along with the anxiety. It was only when I employed the technique I will describe for you later, did I let the body continue doing what it does best—running the whole show.
Importantly, a side-effect of increased breathing, (especially if no actual activity occurs) is that the blood supply to the head is actually decreased. While such a decrease is only a small amount and is not at all dangerous, it produces a variety of unpleasant but harmless symptoms that include dizziness, blurred vision, confusion, sense of unreality, and hot flushes.
Other Physical Effects of Panic Attacks:
Now that we've discussed some of the primary physiological causes of panic attacks, there are a number of other effects that are produced by the activation of the sympathetic nervous system, none of which are in any way harmful.
For example, the pupils widen to let in more light, which may result in blurred vision, or “seeing” stars, etc. There is a decrease in salivation, resulting in dry mouth. There is decreased activity in the digestive system, which often produces nausea, a heavy feeling in the stomach, and even constipation. Finally, many of the muscle groups tense up in preparation for “fight or flight” and this results in subjective feelings of tension, sometimes extending to actual aches and pains, as well as trembling and shaking.
Overall, the fight/flight response results in a general activation of the whole bodily metabolism. Thus, one often feels hot and flushed and, because this process takes a lot of energy, the person generally feels tired and drained.
Mental Manifestations: Are the causes of panic attacks all in my head? is a question many people wonder to themselves.
The goal of the fight/flight response is making the individual aware of the potential danger that may be present. Therefore, when activated, the mental priority is placed upon searching the surroundings for potential threats. In this state one is highly-strung, so to speak. It is very difficult to concentrate on any one activity, as the mind has been trained to seek all potential threats and not to give up until the threat has been identified. As soon as the panic hits, many people look for the quick and easiest exit from their current surroundings, such as by simply leaving the bank queue and walking outside. Sometimes the anxiety can heighten, if we perceive that leaving will cause some sort of social embarrassment.
If you have a panic attack while at the workplace but feel you must press on with whatever task it is you are doing, it is quite understandable that you would find it very hard to concentrate. It is quite common to become agitated and generally restless in such a situation. Many individuals I have worked with who have suffered from panic attacks over the years indicated that artificial light—such as that which comes from computer monitors and televisions screens—can can be one of the causes of panic attacks by triggering them or worsen a panic attack, particularly if the person is feeling tired or run down.
This is worth bearing in mind if you work for long periods of time on a computer. Regular break reminders should be set up on your computer to remind you to get up from the desk and get some fresh air when possible.
In other situations, when during a panic attack an outside threat cannot normally be found, the mind turns inwards and begins to contemplate the possible illness the body or mind could be suffering from. This ranges from thinking it might have been something you ate at lunch, to the possibility of an oncoming cardiac arrest.
The burning question is: Why is the fight/flight response activated during a panic attack even when there is apparently nothing to be frightened of?
Upon closer examination of the causes of panic attacks, it would appear that what we are afraid of are the sensations themselves—we are afraid of the body losing control. These unexpected physical symptoms create the fear or panic that something is terribly wrong. Why do you experience the physical symptoms of the fight/flight response if you are not frightened to begin with? There are many ways these symptoms can manifest themselves, not just through fear.
For example, it may be that you have become generally stressed for some reason in your life, and this stress results in an increase in the production of adrenaline and other chemicals, which from time to time, would produce symptoms....and which you perceive as the causes of panic attacks.
This increased adrenaline can be maintained chemically in the body, even after the stress has long gone. Another possibility is diet, which directly affects our level of stress. Excess caffeine, alcohol, or sugar is known for causing stress in the body, and is believed to be one of the contributing factors of the causes of panic attacks (Chapter 5 gives a full discussion on diet and its importance).
Unresolved emotions are often pointed to as possible trigger of panic attacks, but it is important to point out that eliminating panic attacks from your life does not necessarily mean analyzing your psyche and digging into your subconscious. The “One Move” technique will teach you to deal with the present moment and defuse the attack along with removing the underlying anxiety that sparks the initial anxiety.
Learn more
http://loseyouranxietyfast.com/
Joe Barry is an international panic disorder coach. His informative site on all issues related to panic and anxiety attacks can be found here: http://loseyouranxietyfast.com/
This article is copywritten material
Read more!
Friday, July 3, 2009
Get lean, or stay fat. It’s your decision.
Why do I say that? Because this is your absolute LAST chance to get the program that is going to put your results over the edge, while being maintainable and livable, and DOABLE, before the price DOUBLES tonight.
==> http://losestubbornfatfast.com/
You want to talk about why people fail? It’s because 99% of the diet programs out there aren’t realistic. They aren’t practical.
But that’s NOT this program. This one is special. This one is going to be a GAME CHANGER for you because it’s just so incredibly livable.
Not only that, but you get to EAT NORMALLY to get you the head-turning physique you’ve always wanted--FASTER.
This program, this BLUEPRINT, is getting ready to set you free, but only when you invest in it before midnight tonight.
==> http://losestubbornfatfast.com/
Wait a minute, I take that back. You can still get the program tomorrow, but if you do, it’s going to be more than DOUBLE the price -- and why pay that when you can get it for HALF that for the next few hours?
http://losestubbornfatfast.com/ <--------- Last chance Read more!
==> http://losestubbornfatfast.com/
You want to talk about why people fail? It’s because 99% of the diet programs out there aren’t realistic. They aren’t practical.
But that’s NOT this program. This one is special. This one is going to be a GAME CHANGER for you because it’s just so incredibly livable.
Not only that, but you get to EAT NORMALLY to get you the head-turning physique you’ve always wanted--FASTER.
This program, this BLUEPRINT, is getting ready to set you free, but only when you invest in it before midnight tonight.
==> http://losestubbornfatfast.com/
Wait a minute, I take that back. You can still get the program tomorrow, but if you do, it’s going to be more than DOUBLE the price -- and why pay that when you can get it for HALF that for the next few hours?
http://losestubbornfatfast.com/ <--------- Last chance Read more!
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Eliminate Anxiety and Panic Attacks For Good
Those of you who are having problems with anxiety or panic attacks might be interested in this article I found by Joe Barry. Here it is ...
If you suffer from...
* Palpitations
* a pounding heart, or an accelerated heart rate
* Sweating
* Trembling or shaking
* Shortness of breath
* A choking sensation
* Chest pain or discomfort
* Nausea or stomach cramps
* Derealization (a feeling of unreality)
* Fear of losing control or going crazy
* Fear of dying Numbness or a tingling sensation
* Chills or hot flashes
(Source: American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR) 2000 Washington, DC.)
...then you've experienced firsthand some of the possible symptoms of a panic or anxiety attack. If you are reading this page because a loved one suffers from these symptoms and you are trying to understand or help, it's hard to appreciate what they go through.
Just try to imagine what it feels like to experience one, if you can.
Here is a typical example:
Standing in a supermarket queue, it’s been a long wait but only one customer to go before you make it to the cashier. Wait, what was that sensation? An unpleasant feeling forms in your throat, your chest feels tighter, now a sudden shortness of breath, and what do you know—your heart skips a beat. “Please, God, not here.”
A quick scan of the territory—is it threatening? Four unfriendly faces queue behind, one person in front. Pins and needles seem to prick you through your left arm, you feel slightly dizzy, and then the explosion of fear as you dread the worst. You are about to have a panic attack.
There is no doubt in your mind now that this is going to be a big one. Okay, focus: Remember what you have been taught, and it is time now to apply the coping techniques. Begin the deep breathing exercise your doctor recommended. In through the nose, out through the mouth.
Think relaxing thoughts, and again, while breathing in, think “Relax,” and then breathe out. But it doesn’t seem to be having any positive effect; in fact, just concentrating on breathing is making you feel self-conscious and more uptight.
Okay, coping technique 2:
Gradual muscle relaxation. Tense both shoulders, hold for 10 seconds, then release. Try it again. No; still no difference. The anxiety is getting worse and the very fact that you are out of coping techniques worsens your panic. If only you were surrounded by your family, or a close friend were beside you so you could feel more confident in dealing with this situation.
Now, the adrenaline is really pumping through your system, your body is tingling with uncomfortable sensations, and now the dreaded feeling of losing complete control engulfs your emotions. No one around you has any idea of the sheer terror you are experiencing. For them, it’s just a regular day and another frustratingly slow queue in the supermarket.
You are out of options. Time for Plan C.
The most basic coping skill of all is “fleeing.” Excuse yourself from the queue; you are slightly embarrassed as it is now that it is your turn to pay. The cashier is looking bewildered as you leave your shopping behind and stroll towards the door. There is no time for excuses—you need to be alone. You leave the supermarket and get into your car to ride it out alone. Could this be the big one? The one you fear will push you over the edge mentally and physically. Ten minutes later the panic subsides.
It’s 10:30 a.m. How are you going to make it through the rest of the day?
If you suffer from panic or anxiety attacks, the above scenerio probably sounds very familiar. It may have even induced feelings of anxiety and panic just reading it. The particular situations that trigger your panic and anxiety may differ; maybe the bodily sensations are a little different. Or maybe it happened to you for the first time on a plane, in the dentist chair, or even at home, while doing nothing in particular.
If you have ever had what has become known as a “panic attack,” take comfort in the fact that you are by no means alone.
A panic attack always comes with the acute sense of impending doom. You feel you are either about to lose your mind or one of your vital bodily functions is about to cease functioning and you will end your days right there among the canned goods and frozen food.
You are by no means alone; you’re not even one in a million. In America, it is estimated that almost 5% of the population suffer from some form of anxiety disorder. For some, it may be the infrequent panic attacks that only crop up in particular situations-like when having to speak in front of others, while, for other people, it can be so frequent and recurring that it inhibits them from leaving their home. Frequent panic attacks often develop into what medical physicians refer to as an “anxiety disorder.”
One of the first steps to regaining control of your life is getting helpful information. This site will give you that, and more.
The beginning of your recovery starts here. What you will learn is that there is a very good chance you are about to end the cycle of panic attacks in your life. You will learn not only to regain the carefree life you remember once having, but will also gain new confidence in living. Your answer to living free from “panic” or “anxiety attacks” is at hand.
This site demonstrates that the panic and anxiety that you have experienced will be the very key to your courage and success.
Begin the road to recovery by browsing through the site. While many of you may have read almost everything you can possibly read relating to panic and anxiety I assure you this site offers something very effective.
Did you know...?
The key difference between someone who is cured of panic attacks and those who are not is really very simple. The people who are cured no longer fear panic attacks. I’ll try to show you how to be one of these people as well.
What if I told you the trick to ending panic and anxiety attacks is to want to have one. That sounds strange, even contradictory, but let me explain.
The trick to panic attacks is wanting to have one-the wanting pushes it away. Can you have a panic attack in this very second? No!
You know the saying that "what you resist, persists." Well that saying applies perfectly to fear. If you resist a situation out of fear, the fear around that issue will persist. How do you stop resisting–you move directly into it, into the path of the anxiety, and by doing so it cannot persist.
In essence what this means is that if you daily voluntarily seek to have a panic attack, you cannot have one. Try in this very moment to have a panic attack and I will guarantee you cannot. You may not realize it but you have always decided to panic. You make the choice by saying this is beyond my control.
Another way to appreciate this is to imagine having a panic attack as like standing on a cliff's edge. The anxiety seemingly pushes you closer to falling over the edge.
To be rid of the fear you must metaphorically jump. You must jump off the cliff edge and into the anxiety and fear and all the things that you fear most.
How do you jump? You jump by wanting to have a panic attack. You go about your day asking for anxiety and panic attacks to appear.
Your real safety is the fact that a panic attack will never harm you. That is medical fact. You are safe, the sensations are wild but no harm will come to you. Your heart is racing but no harm will come to you. The jump becomes nothing more than a two foot drop! Perfectly safe.
Learn more
http://loseyouranxietyfast.com/
Joe Barry is an international panic disorder coach. His informative site on all issues related to panic and anxiety attacks can be found here: http://loseyouranxietyfast.com/
This article is copywritten material
Read more!
If you suffer from...
* Palpitations
* a pounding heart, or an accelerated heart rate
* Sweating
* Trembling or shaking
* Shortness of breath
* A choking sensation
* Chest pain or discomfort
* Nausea or stomach cramps
* Derealization (a feeling of unreality)
* Fear of losing control or going crazy
* Fear of dying Numbness or a tingling sensation
* Chills or hot flashes
(Source: American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR) 2000 Washington, DC.)
...then you've experienced firsthand some of the possible symptoms of a panic or anxiety attack. If you are reading this page because a loved one suffers from these symptoms and you are trying to understand or help, it's hard to appreciate what they go through.
Just try to imagine what it feels like to experience one, if you can.
Here is a typical example:
Standing in a supermarket queue, it’s been a long wait but only one customer to go before you make it to the cashier. Wait, what was that sensation? An unpleasant feeling forms in your throat, your chest feels tighter, now a sudden shortness of breath, and what do you know—your heart skips a beat. “Please, God, not here.”
A quick scan of the territory—is it threatening? Four unfriendly faces queue behind, one person in front. Pins and needles seem to prick you through your left arm, you feel slightly dizzy, and then the explosion of fear as you dread the worst. You are about to have a panic attack.
There is no doubt in your mind now that this is going to be a big one. Okay, focus: Remember what you have been taught, and it is time now to apply the coping techniques. Begin the deep breathing exercise your doctor recommended. In through the nose, out through the mouth.
Think relaxing thoughts, and again, while breathing in, think “Relax,” and then breathe out. But it doesn’t seem to be having any positive effect; in fact, just concentrating on breathing is making you feel self-conscious and more uptight.
Okay, coping technique 2:
Gradual muscle relaxation. Tense both shoulders, hold for 10 seconds, then release. Try it again. No; still no difference. The anxiety is getting worse and the very fact that you are out of coping techniques worsens your panic. If only you were surrounded by your family, or a close friend were beside you so you could feel more confident in dealing with this situation.
Now, the adrenaline is really pumping through your system, your body is tingling with uncomfortable sensations, and now the dreaded feeling of losing complete control engulfs your emotions. No one around you has any idea of the sheer terror you are experiencing. For them, it’s just a regular day and another frustratingly slow queue in the supermarket.
You are out of options. Time for Plan C.
The most basic coping skill of all is “fleeing.” Excuse yourself from the queue; you are slightly embarrassed as it is now that it is your turn to pay. The cashier is looking bewildered as you leave your shopping behind and stroll towards the door. There is no time for excuses—you need to be alone. You leave the supermarket and get into your car to ride it out alone. Could this be the big one? The one you fear will push you over the edge mentally and physically. Ten minutes later the panic subsides.
It’s 10:30 a.m. How are you going to make it through the rest of the day?
If you suffer from panic or anxiety attacks, the above scenerio probably sounds very familiar. It may have even induced feelings of anxiety and panic just reading it. The particular situations that trigger your panic and anxiety may differ; maybe the bodily sensations are a little different. Or maybe it happened to you for the first time on a plane, in the dentist chair, or even at home, while doing nothing in particular.
If you have ever had what has become known as a “panic attack,” take comfort in the fact that you are by no means alone.
A panic attack always comes with the acute sense of impending doom. You feel you are either about to lose your mind or one of your vital bodily functions is about to cease functioning and you will end your days right there among the canned goods and frozen food.
You are by no means alone; you’re not even one in a million. In America, it is estimated that almost 5% of the population suffer from some form of anxiety disorder. For some, it may be the infrequent panic attacks that only crop up in particular situations-like when having to speak in front of others, while, for other people, it can be so frequent and recurring that it inhibits them from leaving their home. Frequent panic attacks often develop into what medical physicians refer to as an “anxiety disorder.”
One of the first steps to regaining control of your life is getting helpful information. This site will give you that, and more.
The beginning of your recovery starts here. What you will learn is that there is a very good chance you are about to end the cycle of panic attacks in your life. You will learn not only to regain the carefree life you remember once having, but will also gain new confidence in living. Your answer to living free from “panic” or “anxiety attacks” is at hand.
This site demonstrates that the panic and anxiety that you have experienced will be the very key to your courage and success.
Begin the road to recovery by browsing through the site. While many of you may have read almost everything you can possibly read relating to panic and anxiety I assure you this site offers something very effective.
Did you know...?
The key difference between someone who is cured of panic attacks and those who are not is really very simple. The people who are cured no longer fear panic attacks. I’ll try to show you how to be one of these people as well.
What if I told you the trick to ending panic and anxiety attacks is to want to have one. That sounds strange, even contradictory, but let me explain.
The trick to panic attacks is wanting to have one-the wanting pushes it away. Can you have a panic attack in this very second? No!
You know the saying that "what you resist, persists." Well that saying applies perfectly to fear. If you resist a situation out of fear, the fear around that issue will persist. How do you stop resisting–you move directly into it, into the path of the anxiety, and by doing so it cannot persist.
In essence what this means is that if you daily voluntarily seek to have a panic attack, you cannot have one. Try in this very moment to have a panic attack and I will guarantee you cannot. You may not realize it but you have always decided to panic. You make the choice by saying this is beyond my control.
Another way to appreciate this is to imagine having a panic attack as like standing on a cliff's edge. The anxiety seemingly pushes you closer to falling over the edge.
To be rid of the fear you must metaphorically jump. You must jump off the cliff edge and into the anxiety and fear and all the things that you fear most.
How do you jump? You jump by wanting to have a panic attack. You go about your day asking for anxiety and panic attacks to appear.
Your real safety is the fact that a panic attack will never harm you. That is medical fact. You are safe, the sensations are wild but no harm will come to you. Your heart is racing but no harm will come to you. The jump becomes nothing more than a two foot drop! Perfectly safe.
Learn more
http://loseyouranxietyfast.com/
Joe Barry is an international panic disorder coach. His informative site on all issues related to panic and anxiety attacks can be found here: http://loseyouranxietyfast.com/
This article is copywritten material
Read more!
Where's your NUTRITIONAL TEMPLATE?
What could buying a wedding suit have to do with losing body fat?
A lot more than you think.
Especially when it comes to "Fat Loss Nutrition."
Muscle and six-pack author, Vince DelMonte, discovered some interesting similarities to help you BLAST YOUR FAT FASTER while he was shopping for a wedding suit.
Here's what Vince shares:
"I always believed that creating a custom tailored wedding suit was extremely complex, ultra expensive and required an overly experienced and skilled tailor. Yet, I found a tailor who made the process SIMPLE.
I discovered that every custom suit begins with a SINGLE TEMPLATE. Over time and multiple fittings and modifications, eventually the suit becomes exquisitely tailored.
=============================
My revelation can be plainly put,
the perfect suit begins as NOTHING
MORE than a one-size-fits all template.
==============================
Nutritional perfection (fat loss and muscle building), requires the same.
You need to begin with a simple, basic nutritional template and test it out; tweaking it according to the results you experience, and only you.
Only by beginning here can you arrive at the final destination - a perfect nutrition and eventually a perfect body.
=====================
There is NO magic diet plan
=====================
There is no magic diet book or test or "eat right for your blood type" kind of solution.
In our combined 20 years of experience in the nutrition field, the best way you can get your best body ever is to follow a meal plan that is based on concrete nutritional principles plus your own informed trial and error.
In other words, you begin with a BASIC NUTRITIONAL PLAN, based on the best nutrition information available, test it and modify the nutritional plan based on if you're gaining muscle or losing fat.
The problem is that 90% of the nutrition info available is CONFUSING, CONTRADICTING and CONSUMING.
Which is completely unnecessary and ridiculous.
============================
Getting the perfect body and perfect
meal plan must begin with an ORIGIN
============================
If you're not prepared to put in some time, effort, discipline and pay attention to a few details, then getting and keeping a rock hard body (forever) may NOT be in the cards for you.
Sorry.
You need a BASIC TEMPLATE that you can begin with, a simple "done-for-you" template to start, test and modify (if even necessary)."
Today I want to DIRECT YOU to the best FAT LOSS MEAL PLANS I've ever seen. Vince DelMonte and Empowered Nutrition want to give you a complete 3-phase system called, "Done-For-You" Fat Loss Meal Plans.
Every caloric amount is included. 84-days of variety for each plan. Grocery lists, delicious recipes and more.
Click here for more information:
--> Lose Stubborn Fat Fast!
Today is the second day of a 72-hour HALF-PRICE special because these plans just went LIVE yesterday. I highly recommend you pick up your 84-day meal plans if you're ready to lose your gut and love handles and get ripped!
The half-price sale ends Friday night, July 3rd, at midnight and I know Vince, John and Pat have some cool fast-action bonuses to nail down your fat loss nutrition and perfect your body even faster.
Click here to join
--> --> Lose Stubborn Fat Fast! Read more!
A lot more than you think.
Especially when it comes to "Fat Loss Nutrition."
Muscle and six-pack author, Vince DelMonte, discovered some interesting similarities to help you BLAST YOUR FAT FASTER while he was shopping for a wedding suit.
Here's what Vince shares:
"I always believed that creating a custom tailored wedding suit was extremely complex, ultra expensive and required an overly experienced and skilled tailor. Yet, I found a tailor who made the process SIMPLE.
I discovered that every custom suit begins with a SINGLE TEMPLATE. Over time and multiple fittings and modifications, eventually the suit becomes exquisitely tailored.
=============================
My revelation can be plainly put,
the perfect suit begins as NOTHING
MORE than a one-size-fits all template.
==============================
Nutritional perfection (fat loss and muscle building), requires the same.
You need to begin with a simple, basic nutritional template and test it out; tweaking it according to the results you experience, and only you.
Only by beginning here can you arrive at the final destination - a perfect nutrition and eventually a perfect body.
=====================
There is NO magic diet plan
=====================
There is no magic diet book or test or "eat right for your blood type" kind of solution.
In our combined 20 years of experience in the nutrition field, the best way you can get your best body ever is to follow a meal plan that is based on concrete nutritional principles plus your own informed trial and error.
In other words, you begin with a BASIC NUTRITIONAL PLAN, based on the best nutrition information available, test it and modify the nutritional plan based on if you're gaining muscle or losing fat.
The problem is that 90% of the nutrition info available is CONFUSING, CONTRADICTING and CONSUMING.
Which is completely unnecessary and ridiculous.
============================
Getting the perfect body and perfect
meal plan must begin with an ORIGIN
============================
If you're not prepared to put in some time, effort, discipline and pay attention to a few details, then getting and keeping a rock hard body (forever) may NOT be in the cards for you.
Sorry.
You need a BASIC TEMPLATE that you can begin with, a simple "done-for-you" template to start, test and modify (if even necessary)."
Today I want to DIRECT YOU to the best FAT LOSS MEAL PLANS I've ever seen. Vince DelMonte and Empowered Nutrition want to give you a complete 3-phase system called, "Done-For-You" Fat Loss Meal Plans.
Every caloric amount is included. 84-days of variety for each plan. Grocery lists, delicious recipes and more.
Click here for more information:
--> Lose Stubborn Fat Fast!
Today is the second day of a 72-hour HALF-PRICE special because these plans just went LIVE yesterday. I highly recommend you pick up your 84-day meal plans if you're ready to lose your gut and love handles and get ripped!
The half-price sale ends Friday night, July 3rd, at midnight and I know Vince, John and Pat have some cool fast-action bonuses to nail down your fat loss nutrition and perfect your body even faster.
Click here to join
--> --> Lose Stubborn Fat Fast! Read more!
Monday, June 22, 2009
Healing Herbs - Part 5
There are literally thousands of herbs that are used for healing around the world. Most herbs can be taken in capsule, tablet or liquid forms as well as in teas. Here are five more of some of the most popular healing herbs and instructions for using them. Of course, if you are pregnant or have serious health problems, be sure to talk to your doctor before using medicinal herbs.
1. Thyme:
Eases cough and upper respiratory infections.
Pour boiling water over 1 tsp. of dried herb and steep to make a tea.
2. Uva Ursi (bearberry):
Helps relieve fluid retention and fights inflammation in the urinary tract.
Pour cold water over 1 tsp. of coarsely powdered leaves and let stand for 12-24 hours to make a tea.
3. Valerian:
Good for insomnia.
Pour boiling water over 2 tsp. of finely cut root and steep to make a tea.
4. Willow Bark:
Helps ease pain, fever and headaches.
Pour boiling water over 1-2 tsp. of finely chopped bark and steep to make a tea.
5. Yarrow:
Good for indigestion and for stimulating the appetite.
Pour boiling water over 1 heaping tsp. of finely chopped herb and steep to make a tea.
Source: The Doctors Book of Food Remedies: The Newest Discoveries in the Power of Food to Treat and Prevent Health Problems-From Aging and Diabetes to Ulcers
by Selene Yeager and the Editors of Prevention Health Books.
Read more!
1. Thyme:
Eases cough and upper respiratory infections.
Pour boiling water over 1 tsp. of dried herb and steep to make a tea.
2. Uva Ursi (bearberry):
Helps relieve fluid retention and fights inflammation in the urinary tract.
Pour cold water over 1 tsp. of coarsely powdered leaves and let stand for 12-24 hours to make a tea.
3. Valerian:
Good for insomnia.
Pour boiling water over 2 tsp. of finely cut root and steep to make a tea.
4. Willow Bark:
Helps ease pain, fever and headaches.
Pour boiling water over 1-2 tsp. of finely chopped bark and steep to make a tea.
5. Yarrow:
Good for indigestion and for stimulating the appetite.
Pour boiling water over 1 heaping tsp. of finely chopped herb and steep to make a tea.
Source: The Doctors Book of Food Remedies: The Newest Discoveries in the Power of Food to Treat and Prevent Health Problems-From Aging and Diabetes to Ulcers
by Selene Yeager and the Editors of Prevention Health Books.
Read more!
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Healing Herbs - Part 4
There are literally thousands of herbs that are used for healing around the world. Most herbs can be taken in capsule, tablet or liquid forms as well as in teas. Here are five more of some of the most popular healing herbs and instructions for using them. Of course, if you are pregnant or have serious health problems, be sure to talk to your doctor before using medicinal herbs.
1. Parsley:
A digestive aid and mild diuretic.
Add generous amounts of leaves and stems during cooking.
2. Peppermint:
Eases upset stomach and reduces gas.
Pour boiling water over 1 Tbsp. of dried leaves and steep to make a tea.
3. Rosemary:
Eases digestion and helps stimulate appetite.
Pour boiling water over 1 tsp. of finely chopped leaves and steep to make a tea.
4. St. John's Wort:
Eases nervousness and anxiety, improves memory and concentration and has anti-viral and anti-inflammatory effects.
Take a 250-milligram capsule once a day.
5. Savory:
Relieves gas and diarrhea and stimulates appetite.
Add generous amounts of crushed leaves during cooking.
Source: The Doctors Book of Food Remedies: The Newest Discoveries in the Power of Food to Treat and Prevent Health Problems-From Aging and Diabetes to Ulcers by Selene Yeager and the Editors of Prevention Health Books.
Read more!
1. Parsley:
A digestive aid and mild diuretic.
Add generous amounts of leaves and stems during cooking.
2. Peppermint:
Eases upset stomach and reduces gas.
Pour boiling water over 1 Tbsp. of dried leaves and steep to make a tea.
3. Rosemary:
Eases digestion and helps stimulate appetite.
Pour boiling water over 1 tsp. of finely chopped leaves and steep to make a tea.
4. St. John's Wort:
Eases nervousness and anxiety, improves memory and concentration and has anti-viral and anti-inflammatory effects.
Take a 250-milligram capsule once a day.
5. Savory:
Relieves gas and diarrhea and stimulates appetite.
Add generous amounts of crushed leaves during cooking.
Source: The Doctors Book of Food Remedies: The Newest Discoveries in the Power of Food to Treat and Prevent Health Problems-From Aging and Diabetes to Ulcers
by Selene Yeager and the Editors of Prevention Health Books.
Read more!
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Healing Herbs - Part 3
There are literally thousands of herbs that are used for healing around the world. Most herbs can be taken in capsule, tablet or liquid forms as well as in teas. Here are five more of some of the most popular healing herbs and instructions for using them. Of course, if you are pregnant or have serious health problems, be sure to talk to your doctor before using medicinal herbs.
1. Licorice Root:
Relieves menopausal problems such as mood swings and hot flashes. Helps heal sore throat and ulcers.
Pour boiling water over 1/2 tsp. of finely chopped root and steep to make a tea. Do not use for more than 4-6 weeks at a time. Avoid if you have high blood pressure.
2. Lovage:
Relieves gas and fluid retention.
Pour boiling water over 1/2-1 tsp. of finely cut root and steep to make a tea. Repeat 3 times a day when using as a diuretic.
3. Milk Thistle:
Good for liver problems such as hepatitis and cirrhosis.
Take a 200-milligram capsule once a day.
4. Nettle:
Helps relieve fluid retention.
Pour boiling water over 2 tsp. of finely cut leaves and steep to make a tea.
5. Oregano:
Good for parasitic infections and for blocking the effects of carcinogens in cooked meats.
Add generous amounts of whole leaves or powdered herb during cooking.
Source: The Doctors Book of Food Remedies: The Newest Discoveries in the Power of Food to Treat and Prevent Health Problems-From Aging and Diabetes to Ulcers by Selene Yeager and the Editors of Prevention Health Books.
Read more!
1. Licorice Root:
Relieves menopausal problems such as mood swings and hot flashes. Helps heal sore throat and ulcers.
Pour boiling water over 1/2 tsp. of finely chopped root and steep to make a tea. Do not use for more than 4-6 weeks at a time. Avoid if you have high blood pressure.
2. Lovage:
Relieves gas and fluid retention.
Pour boiling water over 1/2-1 tsp. of finely cut root and steep to make a tea. Repeat 3 times a day when using as a diuretic.
3. Milk Thistle:
Good for liver problems such as hepatitis and cirrhosis.
Take a 200-milligram capsule once a day.
4. Nettle:
Helps relieve fluid retention.
Pour boiling water over 2 tsp. of finely cut leaves and steep to make a tea.
5. Oregano:
Good for parasitic infections and for blocking the effects of carcinogens in cooked meats.
Add generous amounts of whole leaves or powdered herb during cooking.
Source: The Doctors Book of Food Remedies: The Newest Discoveries in the Power of Food to Treat and Prevent Health Problems-From Aging and Diabetes to Ulcers
by Selene Yeager and the Editors of Prevention Health Books.
Read more!
Friday, June 19, 2009
Healing Herbs - Part 2
There are literally thousands of herbs that are used for healing around the world. Most herbs can be taken in capsule, tablet or liquid forms as well as in teas. Here are five more of some of the most popular healing herbs and instructions for using them. Of course, if you are pregnant or have serious health problems, be sure to talk to your doctor before using medicinal herbs.
1. Garlic:
Helps lower cholesterol and high blood pressure and reduces the risk for heart disease.
Eat 1-6 cloves a day.
2. Gentian:
Stimulates appetite and improves digestion.
Pour boiling water over 1/2 tsp. of finely cut or coarsely powdered herb and steep to make a tea.
3. Ginkgo:
Helps prevent blood clots and increases blood flow to the brain. Eases anxiety.
Take a 40-milligram capsule 3 time a day for 1-2 months.
4. Horehound:
A mild expectorant that's good for coughs.
Pour boiling water over 1-1/2 tsp. of finely cut leaves and steep to make a tea.
5. Lemon Balm:
A calming herb that also helps ease cold sores.
Pour boiling water over 1-2 tsp. of finely chopped leaves and steep to make a tea.
Source: The Doctors Book of Food Remedies: The Newest Discoveries in the Power of Food to Treat and Prevent Health Problems-From Aging and Diabetes to Ulcers by Selene Yeager and the Editors of Prevention Health Books.
Read more!
1. Garlic:
Helps lower cholesterol and high blood pressure and reduces the risk for heart disease.
Eat 1-6 cloves a day.
2. Gentian:
Stimulates appetite and improves digestion.
Pour boiling water over 1/2 tsp. of finely cut or coarsely powdered herb and steep to make a tea.
3. Ginkgo:
Helps prevent blood clots and increases blood flow to the brain. Eases anxiety.
Take a 40-milligram capsule 3 time a day for 1-2 months.
4. Horehound:
A mild expectorant that's good for coughs.
Pour boiling water over 1-1/2 tsp. of finely cut leaves and steep to make a tea.
5. Lemon Balm:
A calming herb that also helps ease cold sores.
Pour boiling water over 1-2 tsp. of finely chopped leaves and steep to make a tea.
Source: The Doctors Book of Food Remedies: The Newest Discoveries in the Power of Food to Treat and Prevent Health Problems-From Aging and Diabetes to Ulcers
by Selene Yeager and the Editors of Prevention Health Books.
Read more!
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Healing Herbs - Part 1
There are literally thousands of herbs that are used for healing around the world. Most herbs can be taken in capsule, tablet or liquid forms as well as in teas. Here are just five of some of the most popular healing herbs and instructions for using them. Of course, if you are pregnant or have serious health problems, be sure to talk to your doctor before using medicinal herbs.
1. Anise:
Eases hot flashes and other menopausal problems. Helps relieve gas.
Crush 1 tsp. of seeds and steep in boiling water to make a tea.
2. Chamomile:
Good for indigestion and gas and for easing sore throat.
Pour boiling water over 1-2 Tbsp. of herb and steep to make a tea.
3. Echinacea:
Strengthens the immune system.
Take 1/2 tsp. of tincture 3 times a day at the first sign of a cold. Or pour boiling water over 1/2 tsp. of coarsely powdered dried herb and steep to make a tea.
4. Fennel:
Eases hot flashes and other menopausal problems. Helps settle the stomach.
Crush 1-2 tsp. of seeds and steep in boiling water to make a tea.
5. Feverfew:
Helps prevent and relieve migraines.
Eat 2-3 fresh leaves a day.
Source: The Doctors Book of Food Remedies: The Newest Discoveries in the Power of Food to Treat and Prevent Health Problems-From Aging and Diabetes to Ulcers by Selene Yeager and the Editors of Prevention Health Books.
Read more!
1. Anise:
Eases hot flashes and other menopausal problems. Helps relieve gas.
Crush 1 tsp. of seeds and steep in boiling water to make a tea.
2. Chamomile:
Good for indigestion and gas and for easing sore throat.
Pour boiling water over 1-2 Tbsp. of herb and steep to make a tea.
3. Echinacea:
Strengthens the immune system.
Take 1/2 tsp. of tincture 3 times a day at the first sign of a cold. Or pour boiling water over 1/2 tsp. of coarsely powdered dried herb and steep to make a tea.
4. Fennel:
Eases hot flashes and other menopausal problems. Helps settle the stomach.
Crush 1-2 tsp. of seeds and steep in boiling water to make a tea.
5. Feverfew:
Helps prevent and relieve migraines.
Eat 2-3 fresh leaves a day.
Source: The Doctors Book of Food Remedies: The Newest Discoveries in the Power of Food to Treat and Prevent Health Problems-From Aging and Diabetes to Ulcers
by Selene Yeager and the Editors of Prevention Health Books.Read more!
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Herbal Therapy
What is it?
Herbal therapy is the use of medicinal plants for health and healing. It is one of the oldest forms of what is now called alternative medicine.
How does it work?
Plants contain a variety of chemicals that are beneficial to health. In fact, a large number of modern drugs contain compounds that were originally found in plants. Consider saponins. Found in many plants, these compounds break down excess mucus and improve elimination from the bowels. Other common compounds, called tannins, can slow bleeding from wounds, and some are now known to have antimicrobial properties.
Medicinal herbs can be taken in many forms. One of the most common is herbal tea. Another preparation, a tincture, is a concentrated liquid extract of the herb. There are also herbal tablets and capsules, fresh herbs as food and, for external use, poultices, compresses, creams and salves. External preparations often utilize essential oils.
What can it do for you?
Medicinal herbs can be taken for any condition, but they're often used in mainstream culture as a supportive treatment, taken in combination with other types of conventional or alternative care. Herbs can reduce the side effects of certain medications, for example. But while some herbal and nutritional treatments interact beneficially with prescription drugs, others have negative interactions.
Herbal therapy is often recommended for treating chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, memory problems and arthritis. It's also helpful for acute illnesses such as colds and for healing skin, muscle or other problems.
Is it safe?
Just because herbs are natural does not mean that they are always safe. While some people may assume that if a little bit of an herb is good, more must be better, the fact is that large doses of herbs may cause problems. Ginkgo, for example, has been shown to improve memory by affecting circulation, but large doses of the herb may cause problems for an elderly or sensitive person who is taking a blood-thinning medication at the same time. For maximum safety, herbs should be used under the guidance of a qualified herbal practitioner.
Source: Alternative Cures: The Most Effective Natural Home Remedies for 160 Health Problems
by Bill Gottlieb, author of New Choices in Natural Healing.
Read more!
Herbal therapy is the use of medicinal plants for health and healing. It is one of the oldest forms of what is now called alternative medicine.
How does it work?
Plants contain a variety of chemicals that are beneficial to health. In fact, a large number of modern drugs contain compounds that were originally found in plants. Consider saponins. Found in many plants, these compounds break down excess mucus and improve elimination from the bowels. Other common compounds, called tannins, can slow bleeding from wounds, and some are now known to have antimicrobial properties.
Medicinal herbs can be taken in many forms. One of the most common is herbal tea. Another preparation, a tincture, is a concentrated liquid extract of the herb. There are also herbal tablets and capsules, fresh herbs as food and, for external use, poultices, compresses, creams and salves. External preparations often utilize essential oils.
What can it do for you?
Medicinal herbs can be taken for any condition, but they're often used in mainstream culture as a supportive treatment, taken in combination with other types of conventional or alternative care. Herbs can reduce the side effects of certain medications, for example. But while some herbal and nutritional treatments interact beneficially with prescription drugs, others have negative interactions.
Herbal therapy is often recommended for treating chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, memory problems and arthritis. It's also helpful for acute illnesses such as colds and for healing skin, muscle or other problems.
Is it safe?
Just because herbs are natural does not mean that they are always safe. While some people may assume that if a little bit of an herb is good, more must be better, the fact is that large doses of herbs may cause problems. Ginkgo, for example, has been shown to improve memory by affecting circulation, but large doses of the herb may cause problems for an elderly or sensitive person who is taking a blood-thinning medication at the same time. For maximum safety, herbs should be used under the guidance of a qualified herbal practitioner.
Source: Alternative Cures: The Most Effective Natural Home Remedies for 160 Health Problems
by Bill Gottlieb, author of New Choices in Natural Healing.
Read more!
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Natural Remedies for Sunburn
Most of us have had at least one sunburn in our lifetime. I've had several, sometimes terribly painful ones. Prevention is the best medicine but when it's too late for prevention, try these natural remedies for your sunburn.
Of note, though, if you experience any of these symptoms, see your medical doctor: nausea, chills or fever, if you feel fatigued or faint, if you have extensive patches of blistered, purple or discolored skin or if you have intense itching.
Aromatherapy:
Add 20 drops each of lavender and chamomile essential oils to a tubful of cool water and soak for ten minutes, suggests Judith Jackson, author of Scentual Touch: A Personal Guide to Aromatherapy.
Food Therapy:
John F. Romano, M.D., clinical assistant professor of dermatology at New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center in New York City, suggests to dip some gauze in whole milk and apply it to sunburned areas for about 20 minutes, repeating this process every two to four hours. Be sure to wash off the milk to avoid having your skin smell sour.
For healing, eat more foods rich in vitamin C, which speeds the healing process for burns, says Julian Whitaker, M.D., founder and president of the Whitaker Wellness Center in Newport Beach, California.
Herbal Therapy:
Keep an aloe vera plant in your house, and when you have a sunburn, break open a leaf and apply the clear gel inside directly to your tender skin, says Tori Hudson, N.D., a naturopathic physician and professor at the National College of Naturopathic Medicine in Portland, Oregon. Apply as often as needed for relief.
Homeopathy:
For a mild sunburn, put 20 drops of Calendula tincture in four ounces of water and bathe the skin with it until the pain goes away, says Mitchell Fleisher, M.D., a family practice physician and homeopath in Colleen, Virginia. If the skin is itchy, prickly and stinging, Dr. Fleisher suggests using a mixture of 20 drops of Urtica urens tincture and four ounces of water to bathe the skin. He says you can also take a 6C or 12C dose of Calendula or Urtica urens every two to three hours as needed. If the skin is swollen and bothered by heat and feels better with an application of cold, he says to try taking a 12C or 30C dose of Apis every two to three hours. All of these remedies are available in many health food stores or can be purchased online.
Hydrotherapy:
A baking soda bath is great for soothing a sunburn, according to Agatha Thrash, M.D., a medical pathologist and co-founder and co-director of Uchee Pines Institute, a natural healing center in Seale, Alabama. Add one cup of baking soda to a tub filled with lukewarm (94 to 98 degrees F) water and soak for 30 minutes to an hour, using a cup to pour the water over any part of the body that isn't submerged in the bath. Pat dry.
Vitamin and Mineral Therapy:
After a sunburn, taking these supplements for a few days can speed healing, says Julian Whitaker, M.D., founder and president of the Whitaker Wellness Center in Newport Beach, California: 1000 milligrams of vitamin C, 400 international units of vitamin E and 15 milligrams (25,000 international units) of beta-carotene. He says it is also a good idea to get more essential fatty acids such as those in flaxseed oil. Take one to two tablespoons of the liquid form, he says, or follow the manufacturer's label for the suggested dose if you are taking capsules (about three capsules equals one teaspoon of the liquid). Flaxseed oil is available in most health food stores or can be purchased online.
Source: New Choices in Natural Healing: Over 1,800 of the Best Self-Help Remedies from the World of Alternative Medicine
, edited by Bill Gottlieb, Editor-in-Chief, Prevention Magazine Health Books.
Read more!
Of note, though, if you experience any of these symptoms, see your medical doctor: nausea, chills or fever, if you feel fatigued or faint, if you have extensive patches of blistered, purple or discolored skin or if you have intense itching.
Aromatherapy:
Add 20 drops each of lavender and chamomile essential oils to a tubful of cool water and soak for ten minutes, suggests Judith Jackson, author of Scentual Touch: A Personal Guide to Aromatherapy.
Food Therapy:
John F. Romano, M.D., clinical assistant professor of dermatology at New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center in New York City, suggests to dip some gauze in whole milk and apply it to sunburned areas for about 20 minutes, repeating this process every two to four hours. Be sure to wash off the milk to avoid having your skin smell sour.
For healing, eat more foods rich in vitamin C, which speeds the healing process for burns, says Julian Whitaker, M.D., founder and president of the Whitaker Wellness Center in Newport Beach, California.
Herbal Therapy:
Keep an aloe vera plant in your house, and when you have a sunburn, break open a leaf and apply the clear gel inside directly to your tender skin, says Tori Hudson, N.D., a naturopathic physician and professor at the National College of Naturopathic Medicine in Portland, Oregon. Apply as often as needed for relief.
Homeopathy:
For a mild sunburn, put 20 drops of Calendula tincture in four ounces of water and bathe the skin with it until the pain goes away, says Mitchell Fleisher, M.D., a family practice physician and homeopath in Colleen, Virginia. If the skin is itchy, prickly and stinging, Dr. Fleisher suggests using a mixture of 20 drops of Urtica urens tincture and four ounces of water to bathe the skin. He says you can also take a 6C or 12C dose of Calendula or Urtica urens every two to three hours as needed. If the skin is swollen and bothered by heat and feels better with an application of cold, he says to try taking a 12C or 30C dose of Apis every two to three hours. All of these remedies are available in many health food stores or can be purchased online.
Hydrotherapy:
A baking soda bath is great for soothing a sunburn, according to Agatha Thrash, M.D., a medical pathologist and co-founder and co-director of Uchee Pines Institute, a natural healing center in Seale, Alabama. Add one cup of baking soda to a tub filled with lukewarm (94 to 98 degrees F) water and soak for 30 minutes to an hour, using a cup to pour the water over any part of the body that isn't submerged in the bath. Pat dry.
Vitamin and Mineral Therapy:
After a sunburn, taking these supplements for a few days can speed healing, says Julian Whitaker, M.D., founder and president of the Whitaker Wellness Center in Newport Beach, California: 1000 milligrams of vitamin C, 400 international units of vitamin E and 15 milligrams (25,000 international units) of beta-carotene. He says it is also a good idea to get more essential fatty acids such as those in flaxseed oil. Take one to two tablespoons of the liquid form, he says, or follow the manufacturer's label for the suggested dose if you are taking capsules (about three capsules equals one teaspoon of the liquid). Flaxseed oil is available in most health food stores or can be purchased online.
Source: New Choices in Natural Healing: Over 1,800 of the Best Self-Help Remedies from the World of Alternative Medicine
, edited by Bill Gottlieb, Editor-in-Chief, Prevention Magazine Health Books.
Read more!
Monday, June 15, 2009
Those Pesky Age Spots
I had freckles as a child and now I have "age spots." Apparently these brown spots typically appear on the backs of the hands in a person's forties or fifties, caused by years of direct exposure to the sun's ultraviolet radiation. I have them also on my arms, shoulders and face. It seems that the sun's ultraviolet radiation damages the color-producing cells of the skin, which are called melanocytes. They then go into overdrive and produce too much color.
Even if you lighten them, they will come back with re-exposure to the sun, says Joni Loughran, an esthetician, cosmetologist and aromatherapist in Petaluma, California. If you're trying to fade age spots, you should wear a sunblock with an SPF of 15 on your hands or other exposed, spotted areas whenever you go outdoors.
In extremely rare cases, the area of a spot can develop a life-threatening cancer called a melanoma. If one of your age spots, or the area around a spot, has turned black and is irregular in shape (signs of melanoma), see a medical doctor immediately.
The following remedies can be tried to reduce or eliminate age spots:
Aromatherapy:
The essential oils of lemon and benzoin have bleaching properties that can help age spots fade, says Barbara Close, an herbalist and aromatherapist in East Hampton, New York. Combine two or three drops of one of the oils with a vegetable carrier oil such as almond, then apply the mixture to the spot twice a day.
Licorice and Glycolic Acid:
Although it may be hard to find, a beauty product containing glycolic acid and licorice extract can work beautifully to lighten or eliminate age spots, says Close.
Glycolic acid consists of natural sugar acids derived from citrus, papaya or other foods. It gently exfoliates the top layer of skin, while the licorice bleaches the spot. To apply, follow the instructions on the label.
Honey and Yogurt:
A mixture of honey and yogurt creates a natural bleach that can help lighten age spots, says Pratima Raichur, N.D., a naturopathic doctor in New York City.
To 1 teaspoon of plain yogurt, add 1 teaspoon of honey and mix thoroughly. Apply the mixture to your hands, let it dry, then wash it off after 30 minutes. Do this once a day.
Gotu Kola:
The herb gotu kola may help fight age spots by stimulating the growth of new, healthy cells and the production of collagen, the protein that holds skin together, says Brigitte Mars, an herbalist and nutritional consultant in Boulder, Colorado. She recommends daily use of a tincture or capsule form of the herb. Add one dropper of tincture to 1/4 cup of water and take three times daily, or take one or two 60-milligram capsules a day.
Source: Alternative Cures: The Most Effective Natural Home Remedies for 160 Health Problems by Bill Gottlieb, author of New Choices in Natural Healing.
Read more!
Even if you lighten them, they will come back with re-exposure to the sun, says Joni Loughran, an esthetician, cosmetologist and aromatherapist in Petaluma, California. If you're trying to fade age spots, you should wear a sunblock with an SPF of 15 on your hands or other exposed, spotted areas whenever you go outdoors.
In extremely rare cases, the area of a spot can develop a life-threatening cancer called a melanoma. If one of your age spots, or the area around a spot, has turned black and is irregular in shape (signs of melanoma), see a medical doctor immediately.
The following remedies can be tried to reduce or eliminate age spots:
Aromatherapy:
The essential oils of lemon and benzoin have bleaching properties that can help age spots fade, says Barbara Close, an herbalist and aromatherapist in East Hampton, New York. Combine two or three drops of one of the oils with a vegetable carrier oil such as almond, then apply the mixture to the spot twice a day.
Licorice and Glycolic Acid:
Although it may be hard to find, a beauty product containing glycolic acid and licorice extract can work beautifully to lighten or eliminate age spots, says Close.
Glycolic acid consists of natural sugar acids derived from citrus, papaya or other foods. It gently exfoliates the top layer of skin, while the licorice bleaches the spot. To apply, follow the instructions on the label.
Honey and Yogurt:
A mixture of honey and yogurt creates a natural bleach that can help lighten age spots, says Pratima Raichur, N.D., a naturopathic doctor in New York City.
To 1 teaspoon of plain yogurt, add 1 teaspoon of honey and mix thoroughly. Apply the mixture to your hands, let it dry, then wash it off after 30 minutes. Do this once a day.
Gotu Kola:
The herb gotu kola may help fight age spots by stimulating the growth of new, healthy cells and the production of collagen, the protein that holds skin together, says Brigitte Mars, an herbalist and nutritional consultant in Boulder, Colorado. She recommends daily use of a tincture or capsule form of the herb. Add one dropper of tincture to 1/4 cup of water and take three times daily, or take one or two 60-milligram capsules a day.
Source: Alternative Cures: The Most Effective Natural Home Remedies for 160 Health Problems
by Bill Gottlieb, author of New Choices in Natural Healing.
Read more!
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Home Thyroid Test
The Barnes Basal Temperature Test is a simple test that anyone can do at home to see if they may have hypothyroidism. All you need is a thermometer. (Make sure it is a thermometer that has mercury in it.) Your body temperature reflects your metabolic rate, which is largely determined by hormones secreted by the thyroid gland.
1. Shake down the thermometer to below 95 degrees the night before you take the test and place it by your bed within easy reach. The idea is to move as little as possible before taking your temperature, while you're calm and almost asleep.
2. After waking up, moving as little as possible and not getting out of bed, place the mercury bulb of the thermometer in the center of your bare armpit and place your arm by your side. Leave the thermometer there for a full 10 minutes.
3. After 10 minutes, record the temperature, time and date.
4. Record the temperature for at least three mornings at the same time each day, if possible. Menstruating women should start recording temperatures on the second day of menstruation.
5. Add up all temperatures and divide by three to get the average temperature.
6. Your basal body temperature should be between 97.6 degrees F and 98.2 degrees F. Anything lower than that can indicate hypothyroidism and anything higher can indicate hyperthyroidism. Read more!
1. Shake down the thermometer to below 95 degrees the night before you take the test and place it by your bed within easy reach. The idea is to move as little as possible before taking your temperature, while you're calm and almost asleep.
2. After waking up, moving as little as possible and not getting out of bed, place the mercury bulb of the thermometer in the center of your bare armpit and place your arm by your side. Leave the thermometer there for a full 10 minutes.
3. After 10 minutes, record the temperature, time and date.
4. Record the temperature for at least three mornings at the same time each day, if possible. Menstruating women should start recording temperatures on the second day of menstruation.
5. Add up all temperatures and divide by three to get the average temperature.
6. Your basal body temperature should be between 97.6 degrees F and 98.2 degrees F. Anything lower than that can indicate hypothyroidism and anything higher can indicate hyperthyroidism. Read more!
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Thyroid Quiz
In their book, Thyroid Power: Ten Steps to Total Health
Do you . . .
If you answered yes to four or more of these questions, you could be one of millions of people with an undiagnosed or under-treated low thyroid problem.
Read more!
Friday, June 12, 2009
What is the Thyroid?
In her book, All Your Health Questions Answered Naturally II
Maureen Kennedy Salaman explains what the thyroid is. See her article below.
The thyroid gland sits at the base of the neck. If you wore a tie, it would be where the knot lies - two lobes on either side of the trachea. Considered a master gland, because of its importance to the body's metabolism, the thyroid's main functions are to create thyroid hormone that forms protein RNA and oxygenates cells. (1)
The gland regulates growth and metabolism, and it releases hormones that affect numerous bodily functions such as heartbeat, temperature, digestion, calorie burning and hair growth.
Thyroid hormones are made from iodine and the amino acid tyrosine. A thyroid hormone deficiency results from a lack of stimulation by the pituitary gland, the master gland located in the brain that secretes the thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH). (2)
Symptoms run the gamut. They include weight gain, depression, fatigue, cold hands and feet, mental disorders, infertility, miscarriage, poor sex drive, heavy or irregular menstruation, high cholesterol, hair loss, dry skin, pale skin, brittle hair, thin and grooved fingernails, muscle weakness, stiff joints, heart problems, constipation, goiters and kidney problems. Since metabolism breaks down with a thyroid problem, having many different ailments can signal a dysfunction. (3)
An article in the British Medical Journal addressed a study in which "six percent of children with Down's syndrome have thyroid disorders, a rate roughly 28 times that of the general population." (4)
Researchers at the Department of Medicine, National University Hospital, Singapore, backed this up when they found a significant link between Down's syndrome and autoimmune thyroid disease, usually hypothyroidism. (5)
Even sleep apnea, a situation where breathing stops during sleep, is shown in studies to be caused by hypothyroidism. When the hypothyroidism is treated, not only is sleep apnea alleviated, but overall sleep is improved. Bashir A. Chaudhary, M.D., of the Sleep Disorder Center, Medical College of Georgia in Augusta, suggests it is reasonable to evaluate thyroid function in all sleep apnea patients. (6)
References:
(1) Braverman, Eric, M.D., and Pfeiffer, Carl C., M.D., Ph.D., The Healing Nutrients Within, Keats Publishing, New Canaan, CT, 1987.
(2) Krampf, Leslie, "Natural Help for Hypothyroidism," Vegetarian Times, n. 207, p. 122, November 1994.
(3) Murray, Michael, M.D., and Pizzorno, Joseph, N.D., Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine, Prima Publishing, Rocklin, CA, p. 388-389, 1991.
(4) Thorpe-Beeston, J.G., et al, "Thyroid Function in Fetuses with Chromosomal Abnormalities," British Medical Journal, v. 302, n. 6777, p. 628, March 16, 1991.
(5) Tambyah P.A. and Cheah J.S., "Hyperthyroidism and Down Syndrome," Annual Academy of Medicine, v. 22, n. 4, p. 603-605, July 1993.
(6) Kittle, William M., M.D., and Chaudhary, Bashir, M.D., "Sleep Apnea and Hypothyroidism," Southern Medical Journal, v. 81, n. 11, p. 1421-1425, November 1988. Read more!
Maureen Kennedy Salaman explains what the thyroid is. See her article below.The thyroid gland sits at the base of the neck. If you wore a tie, it would be where the knot lies - two lobes on either side of the trachea. Considered a master gland, because of its importance to the body's metabolism, the thyroid's main functions are to create thyroid hormone that forms protein RNA and oxygenates cells. (1)
The gland regulates growth and metabolism, and it releases hormones that affect numerous bodily functions such as heartbeat, temperature, digestion, calorie burning and hair growth.
Thyroid hormones are made from iodine and the amino acid tyrosine. A thyroid hormone deficiency results from a lack of stimulation by the pituitary gland, the master gland located in the brain that secretes the thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH). (2)
Symptoms run the gamut. They include weight gain, depression, fatigue, cold hands and feet, mental disorders, infertility, miscarriage, poor sex drive, heavy or irregular menstruation, high cholesterol, hair loss, dry skin, pale skin, brittle hair, thin and grooved fingernails, muscle weakness, stiff joints, heart problems, constipation, goiters and kidney problems. Since metabolism breaks down with a thyroid problem, having many different ailments can signal a dysfunction. (3)
An article in the British Medical Journal addressed a study in which "six percent of children with Down's syndrome have thyroid disorders, a rate roughly 28 times that of the general population." (4)
Researchers at the Department of Medicine, National University Hospital, Singapore, backed this up when they found a significant link between Down's syndrome and autoimmune thyroid disease, usually hypothyroidism. (5)
Even sleep apnea, a situation where breathing stops during sleep, is shown in studies to be caused by hypothyroidism. When the hypothyroidism is treated, not only is sleep apnea alleviated, but overall sleep is improved. Bashir A. Chaudhary, M.D., of the Sleep Disorder Center, Medical College of Georgia in Augusta, suggests it is reasonable to evaluate thyroid function in all sleep apnea patients. (6)
References:
(1) Braverman, Eric, M.D., and Pfeiffer, Carl C., M.D., Ph.D., The Healing Nutrients Within, Keats Publishing, New Canaan, CT, 1987.
(2) Krampf, Leslie, "Natural Help for Hypothyroidism," Vegetarian Times, n. 207, p. 122, November 1994.
(3) Murray, Michael, M.D., and Pizzorno, Joseph, N.D., Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine, Prima Publishing, Rocklin, CA, p. 388-389, 1991.
(4) Thorpe-Beeston, J.G., et al, "Thyroid Function in Fetuses with Chromosomal Abnormalities," British Medical Journal, v. 302, n. 6777, p. 628, March 16, 1991.
(5) Tambyah P.A. and Cheah J.S., "Hyperthyroidism and Down Syndrome," Annual Academy of Medicine, v. 22, n. 4, p. 603-605, July 1993.
(6) Kittle, William M., M.D., and Chaudhary, Bashir, M.D., "Sleep Apnea and Hypothyroidism," Southern Medical Journal, v. 81, n. 11, p. 1421-1425, November 1988. Read more!
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Hypothyroidism
Nathan Becker, M.D., F.A.C.E., F.A.C.P, assistant clinical professor of medicine at University of California at San Francisco, says this about hypothyroidism in Thyroid Power: Ten Steps to Total Health written by Richard L. Shames, M.D., and Karilee Halo Shames, R.N., Ph.D.:
Hypothyroidism is undoubtedly the most common disorder of thyroid function. It affects both sexes and all ages; it may be overt or subclinical; the spectrum of severity is broad. At one extreme are patients who have a few symptoms and signs. At the other extreme are patients in coma. Hypothyroidism can be subclinical for many years, particularly in patients with autoimmune Hashimoto's thyroiditis.
Although we are beginning to understand immune mechanisms, we do not yet fully understand autoimmune thyroid disease. Hashimoto's disease is primarily cell-mediated immune destruction of the thyroid gland. In the less common Graves' disease (also called thyrotoxicosis), a circulating antibody drives the thyroid to hyperfunction, out of the control of pituitary TSH feedback. Graves' disease and Hashimoto's disease frequently coexist in families. Although the tendency to develop these autommune disorders is almost certainly inherited, we do not yet know how the malady is inherited.
What frequently confuses the average clinician is that patients often experience other autoimmune endocrinopathies simultaneously. Addison's disease (adrenal insufficiency), type 1 diabetes (insulin dependent), autoimmune gonadal failure, hypoparathyroidism and pituitary failure are not rare partners. Several years ago, Phyllis Saifer, M.D., and I coined the term APICH Syndrome, which introduced associative non-endocrine maladies with the previously outlined endocrine disorders. While clinically important, these relationships tantalized more than informed us about the basic mechanisms of autoimmunity.
Thyroid disorders are coupled maladies: localized inflammation with generalized flu-like symptoms and resultant hormone excesses or deficiencies. It is no surprise that the patient, as well as the physician, is confused.
Admid this confusion, treatment with thyroid hormone -- to the point of TSH suppression -- is often diagnostic as well as therapeutic. These remarks would be considered heresy by academicians. Physicians and patients should, however, remember that academicians are often passionate, idealistic, eccentric, quarrelsome and self-serving. They often do research, publish, teach, but rarely see or care for thyroid sufferers.
Regarding actual patient care, a trial of thyroid hormone therapy was often used to good advantage in the past. Today, with sensitive laboratory studies, such as TSH assays, our presumed ability to diagnose thyroid disease has encouraged the physician to treat the laboratory data instead of the patient. Consequently, empiric treatment with thyroid hormones has fallen out of favor.
Nevertheless, sensible, cost-effective treatments of widespread thyroid disorders remain an important concern of the physician, not least because the patient often presents with vague complaints that easily can be misdiagnosed. Patients who present with fatigue, depression and subtle cognitive defects are frequently dismissed, discouraged and mistreated. I've spent many years treating these patients with thyroxine (T-4) and more recently with concomitant triiodothyronine (T-3) with much success. Read more!
written by Richard L. Shames, M.D., and Karilee Halo Shames, R.N., Ph.D.:Hypothyroidism is undoubtedly the most common disorder of thyroid function. It affects both sexes and all ages; it may be overt or subclinical; the spectrum of severity is broad. At one extreme are patients who have a few symptoms and signs. At the other extreme are patients in coma. Hypothyroidism can be subclinical for many years, particularly in patients with autoimmune Hashimoto's thyroiditis.
Although we are beginning to understand immune mechanisms, we do not yet fully understand autoimmune thyroid disease. Hashimoto's disease is primarily cell-mediated immune destruction of the thyroid gland. In the less common Graves' disease (also called thyrotoxicosis), a circulating antibody drives the thyroid to hyperfunction, out of the control of pituitary TSH feedback. Graves' disease and Hashimoto's disease frequently coexist in families. Although the tendency to develop these autommune disorders is almost certainly inherited, we do not yet know how the malady is inherited.
What frequently confuses the average clinician is that patients often experience other autoimmune endocrinopathies simultaneously. Addison's disease (adrenal insufficiency), type 1 diabetes (insulin dependent), autoimmune gonadal failure, hypoparathyroidism and pituitary failure are not rare partners. Several years ago, Phyllis Saifer, M.D., and I coined the term APICH Syndrome, which introduced associative non-endocrine maladies with the previously outlined endocrine disorders. While clinically important, these relationships tantalized more than informed us about the basic mechanisms of autoimmunity.
Thyroid disorders are coupled maladies: localized inflammation with generalized flu-like symptoms and resultant hormone excesses or deficiencies. It is no surprise that the patient, as well as the physician, is confused.
Admid this confusion, treatment with thyroid hormone -- to the point of TSH suppression -- is often diagnostic as well as therapeutic. These remarks would be considered heresy by academicians. Physicians and patients should, however, remember that academicians are often passionate, idealistic, eccentric, quarrelsome and self-serving. They often do research, publish, teach, but rarely see or care for thyroid sufferers.
Regarding actual patient care, a trial of thyroid hormone therapy was often used to good advantage in the past. Today, with sensitive laboratory studies, such as TSH assays, our presumed ability to diagnose thyroid disease has encouraged the physician to treat the laboratory data instead of the patient. Consequently, empiric treatment with thyroid hormones has fallen out of favor.
Nevertheless, sensible, cost-effective treatments of widespread thyroid disorders remain an important concern of the physician, not least because the patient often presents with vague complaints that easily can be misdiagnosed. Patients who present with fatigue, depression and subtle cognitive defects are frequently dismissed, discouraged and mistreated. I've spent many years treating these patients with thyroxine (T-4) and more recently with concomitant triiodothyronine (T-3) with much success. Read more!
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Latest News on Statin Side Effects
Carole Jackson from Bottom Line's Daily Health News wrote the following article about statin side effects.
Sometimes it seems as if everyone over age 50 takes statins -- women and men, middle aged and elderly, and lots of people whose cholesterol levels are barely a blip over normal. In fact, lipid-regulating drugs are among the most common prescriptions in this country -- but their side effects are a troubling but seldom acknowledged issue, even by the doctors prescribing them. Beatrice A. Golomb, MD, PhD, at the University of California, San Diego, a leading researcher in this area, recently published a review analyzing nearly 900 studies on the many problems associated with statin use. Not only is this the most complete analysis ever published, her paper also explains why some people are at higher risk for problems than others.
SIDE EFFECTS
Based on patient reports, the number-one statin side effect, which is also the most recognized, concerns adverse effects on muscles including muscle pain, fatigue and weakness. (There is also an association with a rare but potentially devastating muscle condition called rhabdomyolysis, which causes severe muscle damage that can produce toxins that can eventually lead to renal dysfunction and possibly death.)
Second on the list is cognitive problems, including some that are dementia-like. Third place goes to peripheral neuropathy, which causes tingling, pain and numbness in the feet and hands. Other side effects are less frequent but wide ranging, from blood-glucose increases to sleep disruption and atrial fibrillation, as well as -- and this should get some attention -- sexual dysfunction.
It’s widely known that statins decrease coenzyme Q10, harming the mitochondria, which are the power producers in our cells. Dr. Golomb says this explains why people at highest risk for statin side effects are those who already have conditions that adversely affect mitochondria function -- high blood pressure, diabetes, thyroid problems or simply being older. CoQ10 is helpful in minimizing mitochondrial damage, which is obviously especially important for people with these pre-existing conditions -- but as noted, statins deplete this coenzyme. Dr. Golomb noted that this may be why statins aren’t as helpful for people who are over 70 or so.
Observational studies indicate that 10% to 30% of people taking statins will likely experience side effects, and that women seem to be at higher risk than men. Are you wondering why these problems aren’t frequently reported in clinical trials on statins? According to Dr. Golomb, one reason is because participants selected for such studies tend to exclude those most likely to have side effects -- such as people who take other medications along with those who have other health problems. Pharmaceutical companies pour millions of dollars into clinical trials, which are designed to, as Dr. Golomb puts it, "showcase the benefits" of the drugs. However, there are no corresponding interest groups to make sure that the other side also gets heard -- and people at higher risk for side effects are not excluded from taking the drugs once they are on the market. Keep in mind that one-fifth of all fully tested drugs put on the market are ultimately withdrawn or receive a black box warning. The reason: Once a larger and broader population takes a drug over a longer period of time, potential problems not shown in clinical trials will surface.
With so many people taking statins, it’s particularly important to be alert to problems that develop after you start taking these drugs. Side effects can become progressively worse, so it’s vital to investigate any possible ones immediately -- by stopping the drug to see if the problem reverses or stops. The good news is that many side effects are at least partially reversible, says Dr. Golomb. Potency of the statin increases the risk of side effects, so be especially suspicious if problems develop when you are taking a high dose. Taking less may be a solution, if you and your doctor feel you really need to be on statins.
Source(s): Beatrice Golomb, MD, PhD, University of California, San Diego.
Read more!
Sometimes it seems as if everyone over age 50 takes statins -- women and men, middle aged and elderly, and lots of people whose cholesterol levels are barely a blip over normal. In fact, lipid-regulating drugs are among the most common prescriptions in this country -- but their side effects are a troubling but seldom acknowledged issue, even by the doctors prescribing them. Beatrice A. Golomb, MD, PhD, at the University of California, San Diego, a leading researcher in this area, recently published a review analyzing nearly 900 studies on the many problems associated with statin use. Not only is this the most complete analysis ever published, her paper also explains why some people are at higher risk for problems than others.
SIDE EFFECTS
Based on patient reports, the number-one statin side effect, which is also the most recognized, concerns adverse effects on muscles including muscle pain, fatigue and weakness. (There is also an association with a rare but potentially devastating muscle condition called rhabdomyolysis, which causes severe muscle damage that can produce toxins that can eventually lead to renal dysfunction and possibly death.)
Second on the list is cognitive problems, including some that are dementia-like. Third place goes to peripheral neuropathy, which causes tingling, pain and numbness in the feet and hands. Other side effects are less frequent but wide ranging, from blood-glucose increases to sleep disruption and atrial fibrillation, as well as -- and this should get some attention -- sexual dysfunction.
It’s widely known that statins decrease coenzyme Q10, harming the mitochondria, which are the power producers in our cells. Dr. Golomb says this explains why people at highest risk for statin side effects are those who already have conditions that adversely affect mitochondria function -- high blood pressure, diabetes, thyroid problems or simply being older. CoQ10 is helpful in minimizing mitochondrial damage, which is obviously especially important for people with these pre-existing conditions -- but as noted, statins deplete this coenzyme. Dr. Golomb noted that this may be why statins aren’t as helpful for people who are over 70 or so.
Observational studies indicate that 10% to 30% of people taking statins will likely experience side effects, and that women seem to be at higher risk than men. Are you wondering why these problems aren’t frequently reported in clinical trials on statins? According to Dr. Golomb, one reason is because participants selected for such studies tend to exclude those most likely to have side effects -- such as people who take other medications along with those who have other health problems. Pharmaceutical companies pour millions of dollars into clinical trials, which are designed to, as Dr. Golomb puts it, "showcase the benefits" of the drugs. However, there are no corresponding interest groups to make sure that the other side also gets heard -- and people at higher risk for side effects are not excluded from taking the drugs once they are on the market. Keep in mind that one-fifth of all fully tested drugs put on the market are ultimately withdrawn or receive a black box warning. The reason: Once a larger and broader population takes a drug over a longer period of time, potential problems not shown in clinical trials will surface.
With so many people taking statins, it’s particularly important to be alert to problems that develop after you start taking these drugs. Side effects can become progressively worse, so it’s vital to investigate any possible ones immediately -- by stopping the drug to see if the problem reverses or stops. The good news is that many side effects are at least partially reversible, says Dr. Golomb. Potency of the statin increases the risk of side effects, so be especially suspicious if problems develop when you are taking a high dose. Taking less may be a solution, if you and your doctor feel you really need to be on statins.
Source(s): Beatrice Golomb, MD, PhD, University of California, San Diego.
Read more!
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Therapy for My Depression
I haven't been feeling well lately, feeling kind of depressed. Maybe I'm having a mid-life crisis. I'm tired of doing the same thing I've been doing for almost 29 years, that is, medical transcription. When I felt like I couldn't take it one more day as it was sucking the life out of me, I resigned from my job to take a few months off to try to learn some new skills and perhaps change my career.
When my son asked my husband and me if we wanted to go on a "jeep trail" with him one Saturday, we agreed. It was at Blackwater Falls, West Virginia, which is a natural waterfall and is a tourist attraction, with hiking trails, petting zoo, gift shops, park, cabin rentals, etc. I've been there lots of times, but this time was different.
I had never been on a "jeep trail" before. It is actually a very rough road that only 4 x 4's are allowed on. There are numerous potholes, ruts, mud puddles, rocks and ditches. As we were riding along on this rough and rocky road, I began to think how that ride compared to my life right now. I feel like I've been going over some rough patches, climbing over some rocks, going into some ditches, potholes and mud puddles. But even though the road was bad and sometimes scary, with very steep drop-offs, the scenery was pretty and even tranquil. The weather was almost perfect, and I was actually able to enjoy the ride, despite the roughness.
The rough part of the trail seemed very long, kind of like the bad times in my life when I'm feeling really down. But eventually, the road got less rough, with just a few bad places. I started feeling some hope. Yes, my life is rough right now, but it will eventually smooth out, with just a few bumps here and there . . . and I can even enjoy the scenery in the bad times.
After the trail ended, we enjoyed a picnic lunch in the park and then went to look at the falls. As we have been having quite a bit of rain lately, the falls were a lot bigger than normal, and the sound of them was almost thunderous.
I felt so much better after my "jeep ride." I had had time to think and realize that life isn't always easy and sometimes gets scary and rough but there's smooth road up ahead . . . something to look forward to.
Read more!
When my son asked my husband and me if we wanted to go on a "jeep trail" with him one Saturday, we agreed. It was at Blackwater Falls, West Virginia, which is a natural waterfall and is a tourist attraction, with hiking trails, petting zoo, gift shops, park, cabin rentals, etc. I've been there lots of times, but this time was different.
I had never been on a "jeep trail" before. It is actually a very rough road that only 4 x 4's are allowed on. There are numerous potholes, ruts, mud puddles, rocks and ditches. As we were riding along on this rough and rocky road, I began to think how that ride compared to my life right now. I feel like I've been going over some rough patches, climbing over some rocks, going into some ditches, potholes and mud puddles. But even though the road was bad and sometimes scary, with very steep drop-offs, the scenery was pretty and even tranquil. The weather was almost perfect, and I was actually able to enjoy the ride, despite the roughness.
The rough part of the trail seemed very long, kind of like the bad times in my life when I'm feeling really down. But eventually, the road got less rough, with just a few bad places. I started feeling some hope. Yes, my life is rough right now, but it will eventually smooth out, with just a few bumps here and there . . . and I can even enjoy the scenery in the bad times.
After the trail ended, we enjoyed a picnic lunch in the park and then went to look at the falls. As we have been having quite a bit of rain lately, the falls were a lot bigger than normal, and the sound of them was almost thunderous.
I felt so much better after my "jeep ride." I had had time to think and realize that life isn't always easy and sometimes gets scary and rough but there's smooth road up ahead . . . something to look forward to.
Read more!
Statins and Diabetes: What the News Reports Aren't Saying
I received this interesting article in my email inbox from Bottom Line's Daily Health News about statin drugs. The article was written by Carole Jackson.
Statin use is so prevalent today that the brand names of these cholesterol-lowering drugs -- Lipitor, Crestor, Zocor -- seem almost as familiar as toothpastes. I worry this may make it hard to make good decisions as to whether the benefits of these "miracle drugs," as they’re too often called, outweigh the risks.
Harsh words? Perhaps, but they may be what we need to hear. The recently released results of the JUPITER trial (JUPITER stands for "Justification for the Use of statins in Primary prevention: an Intervention Trial Evaluating Rosuvastatin") singing the praises of Crestor helps prove my point... the public has become complacent about taking statins. The researchers claim that when patients with no evidence of pre-existing cardiovascular disease and low-to-normal LDL with elevated C-reactive protein (CRP), a marker of blood vessel inflammation that can be a sign of cardiovascular disease, were given 20 mg of Crestor once a day, it dramatically reduced their risk of major cardiovascular events such as heart attack and stroke.
The media took the bait -- hook, line and sinker.
Yes, the numbers appear to be dramatic: Published reports state that taking Crestor reduced the combined risk of heart attack, stroke or sudden cardiac death in the elevated-CRP population by 47%... cut the risk of heart attack by 54%... slashed the risk of stroke by 48%... and lowered total mortality by 20%. The trial was even halted early (after two years, although it was designed to go for five) so that those receiving the placebo could start taking Crestor. The problem: Media coverage of the study overlooked some of its key problems -- in a direction that is likely to the benefit of the drug’s manufacturer.
STEERING THE STATISTICS
When I read through the JUPITER study results as they were published in the New England Journal of Medicine, I immediately saw two red flags. First, the study was funded by AstraZeneca, the pharmaceutical company that makes Crestor. Second, the lead researcher is listed as a co-inventor on patents related to the test for elevated levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, which the study puts forth as an indication for initiating statin therapy. I’m not saying either factor negates the quality of the research -- after all, somebody has to pay for these expensive studies -- but they do suggest possible bias on the part of the authors.
Indeed, when you look closely at the numbers, it does seem that they are spun to emphasize what’s positive for Crestor. What got everybody so excited about this report was that it looked like Crestor cut nearly in half the risk of a cardiac event (meaning myocardial infarction, stroke, arterial revascularization, hospitalization for unstable angina or death from cardiovascular causes) for the patients in the study. While that’s true... sort of... it’s far from the whole story.
Over the two-year period of research, .77% of the Crestor group experienced a cardiac event, compared with 1.36% of the placebo group. Take the math to the next level and you’ll see this means that more than 120 patients would need to take the drug for nearly two years for a single patient to benefit. Yes, it’s arguably true that Crestor cut the risk of a cardiac event nearly in half in this study (from 1.36% to .77%) but the risk was very small to begin with -- which makes it hard to justify the benefit of taking such an expensive drug.
Of even more concern... there are many known side effects associated with use of Crestor but this particular study uncovered an important and frightening one -- diabetes. News reports overlooked that physicians reported an increased incidence of diabetes with the Crestor group (270 Crestor patients developed diabetes over the course of the trial versus 216 in the placebo group). On his web site MedicationSense.com, Jay S. Cohen, MD, author of What You Must Know About Statin Drugs and Their Natural Alternatives, wrote, in a criticism of the study, "Imagine taking Crestor to prevent a heart attack and getting diabetes instead, which greatly increases the risks of heart attack and stroke." Scary, right?
LET COMMON SENSE PREVAIL
When I spoke with Dr. Cohen about this study and the role of statins in cardiac health, he emphasized that he is not against prescribing these medications for patients who need them. "There are two factors to consider when taking statins -- your cholesterol level and your medical history," Dr. Cohen said. "If you have a serious family history of heart attack or have diabetes, you may need a statin."
On the flip side, he points out, if you’re healthy, have no outstanding medical issues and have cholesterol that is "borderline high," you need to weigh the decision carefully. Do some research about statins and effective natural alternatives before you reach for the pills. One study, published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, showed that taking 515 mg of vitamin C each day was an effective way to reduce CRP. Also, exercising regularly, keeping your weight within a healthy range, and eating a plant-rich diet that’s low in animal products are helpful in improving or maintaining cardiovascular health... and, of course, not smoking.
Until we hear about follow-up studies that verify the "miracle drug" claims of statins (or any other drug, for that matter), don’t be a marketing victim -- always read the fine print. Learn as much as you can about all the options at your disposal, and then work with your doctor to arrive at the choice that makes sense for you.
Source(s):
Jay S. Cohen, MD, associate professor (voluntary) of family and preventive medicine, University of California, Del Mar. MedicationSense.com. Read more!
Statin use is so prevalent today that the brand names of these cholesterol-lowering drugs -- Lipitor, Crestor, Zocor -- seem almost as familiar as toothpastes. I worry this may make it hard to make good decisions as to whether the benefits of these "miracle drugs," as they’re too often called, outweigh the risks.
Harsh words? Perhaps, but they may be what we need to hear. The recently released results of the JUPITER trial (JUPITER stands for "Justification for the Use of statins in Primary prevention: an Intervention Trial Evaluating Rosuvastatin") singing the praises of Crestor helps prove my point... the public has become complacent about taking statins. The researchers claim that when patients with no evidence of pre-existing cardiovascular disease and low-to-normal LDL with elevated C-reactive protein (CRP), a marker of blood vessel inflammation that can be a sign of cardiovascular disease, were given 20 mg of Crestor once a day, it dramatically reduced their risk of major cardiovascular events such as heart attack and stroke.
The media took the bait -- hook, line and sinker.
Yes, the numbers appear to be dramatic: Published reports state that taking Crestor reduced the combined risk of heart attack, stroke or sudden cardiac death in the elevated-CRP population by 47%... cut the risk of heart attack by 54%... slashed the risk of stroke by 48%... and lowered total mortality by 20%. The trial was even halted early (after two years, although it was designed to go for five) so that those receiving the placebo could start taking Crestor. The problem: Media coverage of the study overlooked some of its key problems -- in a direction that is likely to the benefit of the drug’s manufacturer.
STEERING THE STATISTICS
When I read through the JUPITER study results as they were published in the New England Journal of Medicine, I immediately saw two red flags. First, the study was funded by AstraZeneca, the pharmaceutical company that makes Crestor. Second, the lead researcher is listed as a co-inventor on patents related to the test for elevated levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, which the study puts forth as an indication for initiating statin therapy. I’m not saying either factor negates the quality of the research -- after all, somebody has to pay for these expensive studies -- but they do suggest possible bias on the part of the authors.
Indeed, when you look closely at the numbers, it does seem that they are spun to emphasize what’s positive for Crestor. What got everybody so excited about this report was that it looked like Crestor cut nearly in half the risk of a cardiac event (meaning myocardial infarction, stroke, arterial revascularization, hospitalization for unstable angina or death from cardiovascular causes) for the patients in the study. While that’s true... sort of... it’s far from the whole story.
Over the two-year period of research, .77% of the Crestor group experienced a cardiac event, compared with 1.36% of the placebo group. Take the math to the next level and you’ll see this means that more than 120 patients would need to take the drug for nearly two years for a single patient to benefit. Yes, it’s arguably true that Crestor cut the risk of a cardiac event nearly in half in this study (from 1.36% to .77%) but the risk was very small to begin with -- which makes it hard to justify the benefit of taking such an expensive drug.
Of even more concern... there are many known side effects associated with use of Crestor but this particular study uncovered an important and frightening one -- diabetes. News reports overlooked that physicians reported an increased incidence of diabetes with the Crestor group (270 Crestor patients developed diabetes over the course of the trial versus 216 in the placebo group). On his web site MedicationSense.com, Jay S. Cohen, MD, author of What You Must Know About Statin Drugs and Their Natural Alternatives, wrote, in a criticism of the study, "Imagine taking Crestor to prevent a heart attack and getting diabetes instead, which greatly increases the risks of heart attack and stroke." Scary, right?
LET COMMON SENSE PREVAIL
When I spoke with Dr. Cohen about this study and the role of statins in cardiac health, he emphasized that he is not against prescribing these medications for patients who need them. "There are two factors to consider when taking statins -- your cholesterol level and your medical history," Dr. Cohen said. "If you have a serious family history of heart attack or have diabetes, you may need a statin."
On the flip side, he points out, if you’re healthy, have no outstanding medical issues and have cholesterol that is "borderline high," you need to weigh the decision carefully. Do some research about statins and effective natural alternatives before you reach for the pills. One study, published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, showed that taking 515 mg of vitamin C each day was an effective way to reduce CRP. Also, exercising regularly, keeping your weight within a healthy range, and eating a plant-rich diet that’s low in animal products are helpful in improving or maintaining cardiovascular health... and, of course, not smoking.
Until we hear about follow-up studies that verify the "miracle drug" claims of statins (or any other drug, for that matter), don’t be a marketing victim -- always read the fine print. Learn as much as you can about all the options at your disposal, and then work with your doctor to arrive at the choice that makes sense for you.
Source(s):
Jay S. Cohen, MD, associate professor (voluntary) of family and preventive medicine, University of California, Del Mar. MedicationSense.com. Read more!
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