Thursday, February 19, 2009
Chewing Gum and Your Digestive System
Did you know that chewing gum can trick your digestive system? At least that's what my doctor told me. Since chewing is part of the digestive process, when you chew gum, the digestive juices start to flow and your digestive tract does whatever it does when you eat but then it doesn't get any food. My doctor said this can cause air in the intestines. She said it's okay to chew gum for 5 minutes or so but then to spit it out.
Read more!
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Interesting tidbit
I found this kind of interesting . . . hold your hand out in front of your face with your palm facing away from you. Now look at the length of your fingers. If you are a male, your ring finger should be longer than your index finger. If you are a female, your index finger should be longer than your ring finger. My son saw this on TV. I would like to know why this is. Does anyone know?
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Saturday, February 14, 2009
A little bit of humor
One day, a young woman was out taking a walk and saw a very old man sitting in a rocking chair on his porch. She walked up to him and started a conversation. "What is your secret to a long life?" she asked him. He replied, "I smoke 2 packs of cigarettes a day, drink a case of beer a week and eat anything and everything I want." The woman said, "Amazing! And how old are you?" The old man said, "Twenty-six."
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Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Panic Attacks and Your Emotions
I recently came across this interesting article about panic attacks. It's written by Carole Jackson from Bottom Line's Daily Health News:
Many years ago a psychologist friend said to me that if people don't deal with their emotional issues, the problem is sooner or later likely to present itself in some way in the body. Based on findings of a recent research study in Italy, panic attacks seem to be a common way this happens.
Panic disorder is characterized by sudden episodes of terror, often accompanied by chest pain, a rapid heartbeat, breathing difficulty, dizziness, faintness, weakness and sweating. Many people can't tell whether they are having a heart attack or a panic attack and after experiencing one or a few, may begin to fear the episodes themselves. It's not unusual for such individuals to begin to curtail their activities, with some people eventually becoming housebound.
A recent study offers insight into the roots of this disturbing condition, revealing that many people who get panic attacks have difficulty identifying, understanding and expressing their emotions. I had an interesting discussion about this with Mona Lisa Schulz, MD, PhD, medical intuitive, neuropsychiatrist and author of numerous books including her most recent The New Feminine Brain. She agreed wholeheartedly with the premise of the research, calling the finding quite exciting, if not surprising. "If there is a backlog of emotions that hasn't been expressed, it will eventually go down into the body and erupt -- that's the panic attack," she explained.
THE STUDY
At the University of Naples in Italy, Silvana Galderisi, MD, PhD, and her colleagues looked into the role that alexithymia -- the inability to identify, understand and express emotions -- may play in panic disorder. Participants in the trial included 32 people with panic disorder who were not taking medication for their condition, and 32 healthy individuals who have never experienced a panic attack or any other psychiatric disorder. Scientists administered a series of tests to assess each individual's general cognitive abilities, memory, attention, learning, distractibility and ability to recognize facial emotional expressions.
Dr. Galderisi found that those with panic disorder did, in fact, have more trouble identifying, understanding and expressing emotions... and also had greater difficulty tuning out distracting stimuli, which she believes may indicate a wiring problem in their brains. She theorizes that these difficulties may reflect a dysfunction in the fronto-temporo-limbic circuits, a part of the brain that helps modulate emotional experience. Such a dysfunction might lead to abnormal emotional processing and contribute to a greater susceptibility to panic attacks. Another hypothesis, suggests Dr. Schulz, is a problem in the linkage between the right brain, where emotions are experienced, and the left brain, where the skills involved in expressing them are housed. Whichever theory is correct... or even if there's a third theory out there... the connection between emotional processing and panic attacks is clear.
While research continues, doctors can immediately look to help sufferers identify and work through the emotional issues that are being stuffed inside. Medication may reduce symptoms but for many it's merely muting the pain of a challenge that desperately wants to be resolved. Better to deal with that and prevent panic attacks from occurring in the first place.
Written by: Carole Jackson, Bottom Line's Daily Health News
Source(s):
Silvana Galderisi, MD, PhD, department of psychiatry, University of Naples, Naples, Italy.
Mona Lisa Schulz, MD, PhD, a neuropsychiatrist in Yarmouth, Maine, and author of The New Feminine Brain (Free Press).
See my post of January 12, 2009, for a remedy for panic attacks. Read more!
Many years ago a psychologist friend said to me that if people don't deal with their emotional issues, the problem is sooner or later likely to present itself in some way in the body. Based on findings of a recent research study in Italy, panic attacks seem to be a common way this happens.
Panic disorder is characterized by sudden episodes of terror, often accompanied by chest pain, a rapid heartbeat, breathing difficulty, dizziness, faintness, weakness and sweating. Many people can't tell whether they are having a heart attack or a panic attack and after experiencing one or a few, may begin to fear the episodes themselves. It's not unusual for such individuals to begin to curtail their activities, with some people eventually becoming housebound.
A recent study offers insight into the roots of this disturbing condition, revealing that many people who get panic attacks have difficulty identifying, understanding and expressing their emotions. I had an interesting discussion about this with Mona Lisa Schulz, MD, PhD, medical intuitive, neuropsychiatrist and author of numerous books including her most recent The New Feminine Brain. She agreed wholeheartedly with the premise of the research, calling the finding quite exciting, if not surprising. "If there is a backlog of emotions that hasn't been expressed, it will eventually go down into the body and erupt -- that's the panic attack," she explained.
THE STUDY
At the University of Naples in Italy, Silvana Galderisi, MD, PhD, and her colleagues looked into the role that alexithymia -- the inability to identify, understand and express emotions -- may play in panic disorder. Participants in the trial included 32 people with panic disorder who were not taking medication for their condition, and 32 healthy individuals who have never experienced a panic attack or any other psychiatric disorder. Scientists administered a series of tests to assess each individual's general cognitive abilities, memory, attention, learning, distractibility and ability to recognize facial emotional expressions.
Dr. Galderisi found that those with panic disorder did, in fact, have more trouble identifying, understanding and expressing emotions... and also had greater difficulty tuning out distracting stimuli, which she believes may indicate a wiring problem in their brains. She theorizes that these difficulties may reflect a dysfunction in the fronto-temporo-limbic circuits, a part of the brain that helps modulate emotional experience. Such a dysfunction might lead to abnormal emotional processing and contribute to a greater susceptibility to panic attacks. Another hypothesis, suggests Dr. Schulz, is a problem in the linkage between the right brain, where emotions are experienced, and the left brain, where the skills involved in expressing them are housed. Whichever theory is correct... or even if there's a third theory out there... the connection between emotional processing and panic attacks is clear.
While research continues, doctors can immediately look to help sufferers identify and work through the emotional issues that are being stuffed inside. Medication may reduce symptoms but for many it's merely muting the pain of a challenge that desperately wants to be resolved. Better to deal with that and prevent panic attacks from occurring in the first place.
Written by: Carole Jackson, Bottom Line's Daily Health News
Source(s):
Silvana Galderisi, MD, PhD, department of psychiatry, University of Naples, Naples, Italy.
Mona Lisa Schulz, MD, PhD, a neuropsychiatrist in Yarmouth, Maine, and author of The New Feminine Brain (Free Press).
See my post of January 12, 2009, for a remedy for panic attacks. Read more!
Monday, February 9, 2009
Magnesium Deficiency
Over the years, I've found that magnesium is an essential mineral. I have several conditions which can be related to a magnesium deficiency. These include TMJ syndrome (problems with jaw clicking, pain and locking), mitral valve prolapse, muscle cramps, muscle twitching, fibromyalgia-like symptoms, chemical sensitivities and anxiety. There are other conditions that are also related to magnesium deficiency, including diabetes, asthma, migraines, seizures, allergies, attention deficit disorder, etc. A doctor I went to about 6 or 7 years ago told me she was discovering how magnesium was helpful for asthma patients. My current doctor has me on a high dose of magnesium as she feels I'm very deficient. Magnesium also helps with insomnia and constipation. For more information on magnesium and magnesium deficiency, check out the websites below.
http://www.ctds.info/5_13_magnesium.html
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=nutrient&dbid=75
http://www.mgwater.com/ Read more!
http://www.ctds.info/5_13_magnesium.html
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=nutrient&dbid=75
http://www.mgwater.com/ Read more!
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